13 September 2010 by admin.

In my last post when I told you about our awesome vacation I mentioned that my super model sister, Princess Halo, was going to be bred to a really cool dude, Buddy (CH Southwind’s American Pie MH), and I told you I would have a post about the puppies.  Actually this is probably going to take several posts to tell and the puppy saga won’t be done until they go to there forever homes in early October, and even then two of them will stay, one with Mom and me and my sisters and the other with MeMaw and PaPaw.  I have to get all the details in and get it right because I am now (drum roll please)….UNCLE RINGO!!  So, the part I left out last time was that Halo was pregnant while we were on vacation.  So that meant mom was extra careful with Halo and it meant that Halo never let us forget she was expecting.  It wasn’t too bad though because Halo kept up and really didn’t look or act pregnant until after we got home. After we got home though things started to change.  Mom was pretty sure Halo was pregnant while we were on our trip, but the actual pregnancy wasn’t confirmed until July 6 when the Doggy Doc did an ultrasound.  It was pretty cool and everyone was really excited.  The Doggy Doc could actually see five puppies in one view which meant that Halo would have at least 5 puppies and likely more. Mom brought home some pictures of the ultrasounds. They didn’t look like much to me, but she seemed really happy so they must have been good. This one Mom tells me shows 3 puppies. They are the little round dark objects in the pictures. They don’t look much like puppies to me, but Mom said they were and you could see them moving and their heartbeating in the live ultrasound.  Mom also said they were really tiny right now, but in about 34 days they would pop out and be beautiful German Shorthaired Pointer puppies.  Mom is pretty smart, so if she says they will be puppies I guess they will.  Me, I just think it will be really cool to have some new playmates.  Maybe I won’t be bottom guy in the pack any more.Well the days passed pretty much normal and it was getting hotter outside, so we all hung out in the AC and just relaxed.  Halo did start getting bigger, so I guess Mom was right about the puppies.  Papaw teased Mom all the time and kept telling her Halo was going to have 14 puppies.  Mom did not think that was too funny, but me and Papaw did.  Here Halo is trying to pose like she does for her super model pictures, but it is getting pretty hard as she is showing her pregnancy now.Mom says we don’t have to wait much longer because Halo is due on the 10th of August.  Mom and her best friend, my Aunt Marcia, are planning to hang out together with Halo the day and night Halo is due.  For some reason Mom thinks Halo will start delivering the little rug rats during the wee hours of the morning. Just a couple of days before the big day. Mom and Halo went to visit the Doggy Doc again and when Mom got home this time she looked like she had seen a ghost.  She was also muttering something about going to shoot PaPaw and that he had wished this on us.  I finally figured out what she was talking about when I overheard Mom talking to MeMaw.  Apparently, when the Doggy Doc saw Mom and Halo she did an Xray to figure out how many puppies Halo was going to have and they counted, at least 11 puppies and maybe as many as 13 puppies.  Holy cow, but that is a big litter.  I guess that explains why Halo was sort of looking like a blimp and really didn’t feel like doing much but eating and sleeping.Well the evening of the 10th came and Halo was in labor and pacing and shredding.  Aunt Marcia and Mom stayed up all night with Halo and were getting kind of worried by 5 am when no puppies had been born.  So, Mom call the Doggy Doc and she said to bring Halo in by 9 am if we didn’t have any puppies by then.  Well 9 am came and no puppies, so mom and Aunt Marcia packed up Halo and headed to the vet.  At the time I figured they would be back soon, but that was not to be.  About 15 minutes after arriving at the doc’s office Halo started having puppies.  The doc gave Mom a choice to either stay and have the puppies there or try to come home.  Mom chose to stay and a good thing too, because several hours later when puppy number 5 was on the way, he got stuck.  The Doggy Doc tried all kinds of things, but nothing worked so they ended up doing a C section on my sister.  If I had known, I would have been worried.  As it turned out Mom had picked a really good Doggy Doc and Halo and puppies came through with flying colors.  Halo had a total of 13 puppies all arriving on August 11th.  It was a happy day except that one of my new neices and one of new nephews didn’t make it, but we still had 11 very healthy puppies, 3 girls and 8 boys.  Mom and Aunt Marcia brought my sister and the nieces and nephews home that evening and Belle and I were very happy to see everyone.Now I can’t wait for them to get bigger and their eyes to open so I will have more playmates. Of course, I am very proud of my nieces and nephews as I am absolutely sure they will all be just as handsome as me, especially Brown who looks kind of like me. Oh yeah, they didn’t get names yet, but Mom did put colored Ribbons on them so we can tell them apart. And one more thing, German Shorthaired Pointers are born with only their liver patches and the rest is all white. Makes us look kind of funny when we are born, but the spots will come in and actually start showing up around day 3. Just trust me, you will see the spots soon enough.  Oh, and PaPaw is still in trouble with Mom.  She says it is his doings that Halo had such a big litter.  I still haven’t figured that one out, but I guess Mom knows.  Well better go check on Halo and the rug rats to make sure everyone is ok.  I will have some more puppy adventures for you next time. This is Uncle Ringo signing off for now.

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12 September 2010 by admin.

So my mom’s youngest nephew, Thomas, graduated from High School this year and we had been planning a hiking vacation, my mom, her two nephews and us dogs.  We were excited because we were headed to Ouray, CO.  The goal was to get in some good hiking and for the finale we were going up to Blue Lakes.  Well, Halo almost messed us up.  Leave it to The Princess to decide to come into season early.  Now if you don’t know dogs, that means she was ready to be bred, and mom was planning on breeding her to this really cool dude named Buddy (CH Southwind’s American Pie MH).  So, what to do.  As it turned out Halo’s timing was pretty close to perfect because she was bred to Buddy the weekend of June 12th and we weren’t leaving until the 18th.  So, things were cool.  Even the vet said it would be no problem for her to go hiking in the mountains.  So, we were good to go.  I will tell you later about the puppies, but for now I want to tell you about our trip.We loaded up the Shorthair Express (mom’s fifth wheel) and picked up the nephews and headed out.  We took two days driving up, stopping just outside of Las Cruces, New Mexico the first night. The trip up was pretty uneventful and B-O-R-I-N-G, so by the time we got to Ouray I was bouncing off the walls and ready for a hike.  We had a long discussion about where to hike that first day, but finally decided to try a “moderate” hike up Mt. Baldy.  We drove up and were looking for the trail head when we came to a steep dip in the road down to a creek.  We got out and looked because it looked pretty rough.  We were in mom’s big red truck, but we decided that it probably was not worth the risk.  About that same time some other hikers stopped and told us the trail head was less than a quarter of a mile up the road and was an easy walk.  So, we parked the truck and got our gear on.  While we were waiting my sisters and I had a good romp in a mountain meadow.That’s me running across the meadow.  Remember I said I was bouncing off the walls, well running really did help take the edge off.That is Thomas, mom’s youngest nephew that just graduated from High School, waiting with  my sisters Belle and Halo.  And this next picture is my sister, Belle.  Looks like she needed to take the edge off too.Finally we were all ready, so we headed out and it was only about 5 minutes of walking before we ran into our first water crossing.  Of course, I volunteered to check out the creek and lead the way across, but Belle and Halo weren’t far behind me.We got across the stream and headed up, and when I say up I really do mean up.  The trail was vertical and whoever said this was a moderate hike must have been part mountain goat.  I, of course, did not have any problems with the hike at all.  Mom and the boys did pretty good too, although mom did make us stop and take breaks.  My oldest nephew, Louis, had camera duty and was taking the pictures.  Mom is usually our photographer, but Louis is really good too and it gave mom a break so she could just enjoy the hike.  We were hoping to hit the wildflower season, but it turned out we were a bit early.  Still there were some beautiful flowers on this hike.After a long while and not seeing any more creeks for a long time, we decided we needed to take a break. Mom wanted to get us dogs some water out of the pack too because she was worried we were thirsty.  She was right.  It was hot and dusty, so we took a load off.  Mom had forgotten our hiking water bowl so she improvised and used a plastic bag.  It worked great. Belle and I found some shade and Belle who is older and wiser laid in the cool grass while I just stood in the shade.Once we got up pretty high the views were incredible as usual.And we even saw a mountain squirrel. Actually, I didn’t see the squirrel because I was out in front, but Louis saw it and got a great picture.Well after the squirrel we hiked a long time and finally took a break and ate lunch. We got some jerky for lunch which was pretty good. Mom, Louis and Thomas were trying to decide whether to go on as we hadn’t reached the summit yet, or to turn back. They finally decided that we should turn back because it was late in the day and we had a long hike down. When we got back to the rig we were all tired.The next day wegot the boys ready for their overnighter. They had decided they would do the Oak Creek hike which was supposed to be fairly easy. spend the night on the mountain and then come back down the next morning. Mom had promised us that we would drop the boys off at the trail head and then she would take us swimming at Ridgeway reservoir. We needed a break anyway as we needed to rest up for the big hike to Blue Lakes. So, we loaded up the truck and headed to the trail head which was actually in the town of Ouray. When we got there mom, of course, had to have some pictures of the boys.That is Louis on the left and Thomas on the right. They were pretty excited about the trip. We watched them head up the trail,And then we headed to the reservoir. The water was cold,but we went for it anyway. We all three were wrestling in the water and having a great time.Before long it was time to dry off and head back to the rig. We were going to watch a movie and then get to bed early. So we loaded up into the truck and headed back. Of course, as soon as we round a curve in the road we saw this.The next morning we slept in and did some laundry and mom was relaxing and reading while we slept. We didn’t have to go get the boys until the afternoon, so we had lot’s of time to just chill. Around lunch time Mom got a text and was surprised when it was from Thomas. He was letting her know that they had gotten down early and had hiked into Ouray and were eating burgers at a local restaurant. We picked them up a little while later and boy were they glad to be back with us. They were both pooped and Louis even took a nap with Halo.The next day was our big hike day. We were going to do Blue Lakes. Blue Lakes is a long and vertical hike, about 8 miles round trip. Mom had done it about 14 years ago and really wanted to see the lake again. We were all excited. We headed out early the next morning as we had to drive over by the Dallas Divide and find the trail head.  We got started and were thinking there would be allot of water on this trail.  It wasn’t too bad.  We hit a couple of creeks on the way up and it was shady off and on too which helped.  We knew we were hiking to right at timber line, but were still surprised to find quite a bit of snow on the ground.  At first it was just small patches of snow and I loved it because it gave me a place to cool off.Even Halo liked the snow and she figured out you could eat it and it was almost as good as a creek for a drink which was good because we were thirsty.But then the snow patches got bigger and Halo wanted to show us how to run in the deeper snow.Belle and I just stood on the snow and watched her in awe. I was thinking there she goes showing off again.Mom finally said enough playing in the snow. It is time we get to the lake and rest and have some lunch. So, we headed on up. It was a long climb and I think we were all wondering if we would ever get to the lake when we rounded a curve and there it was, Blue Lakes.It was beautiful and cold. Heck, there was even snow in the lake.Halo wanted to go swimming again, but the water was icy cold. So, we waded a little and relaxed on the bank by the lake.Then it was time to head back down the mountain. It was much easier hiking down than up, but it was still a very long day and we were all very tired when we got back to the rig. The next day was our last day before we had to head home, so we all decided to just hang out, rest, get everything ready to go and play cards. It was Thomas’ idea to play cards. So, we played Rummy and it was pretty funny too. Mom beat the socks off of the boys. Thomas so wanted to win, so he kept challenging her and finally he started doing ok, but mom was still the master of the card games on this trip. We left the next morning and took two days to drive home. It seemed to take twice as long because we were all so anxious to get home, but we finally arrived and as they say - There’s no place like home. It was a great vacation though, and I think the boys want to do it again next year.

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11 September 2010 by admin.

I have been really busy this summer, but wanted to catch everyone up on my adventures.  Last Spring, I went back to visit Uncle Ronnie at Bird Camp (I graduated from Bird Boot Camp, so it is just Bird Camp now.).  My goal was to really work on steady to wing. That means I had to give up chasing the birds.  That is hard for me, because I love to chase birds, and I am pretty good at catching them too.  Still Mom wants me to someday get my Senior Hunter so I have to work hard on the Steady to Wing stuff.I was at camp for about 2 months and had a really good time.  Every morning Jamie let me out to help her around the camp.  I got to do that because I was a good boy and didn’t run off.  After the morning chores the real work began.  I would get to work with some birds and then later I ran and ran and ran.  They called it conditioning.  I must have been conditioned pretty good because I could run forever.  Anyway, after the run I went for a swim to cool down and then I got to rest for the hot part of the afternoon.  That was nice.  Sometimes I was in my kennel, sometimes in an outside run and sometimes they put me on a tie out under a tree.  Wherever, it was nice because I could watch all the stuff going on or sleep.  Uncle Ronnie and Jamie would also talk to me and stop and scratch my ears from time to time too.  In the evening, Jamie let me out again to help get dinner ready.  Boy, I like dinner and eating so I was always eager to help.  My dinner was special because they were trying really hard to keep weight on my. So, I always got an egg in my dinner.  Now this wasn’t just any old ordinary store bought egg.  Nope.  It was an egg straight from Jamie’s chickens, and those eggs were delicious.  After dinner it was lights out for the night.  I was always ready to hit the sack though because I worked so hard during the day. My days were pretty much the same and I got into such a routine that I knew where I was supposed to be and when and I would be waiting when Jamie or Uncle Ronnie wanted to be somewhere.  In case no one has ever told you, us dogs like routines.  Routines make us feel safe and secure.  So life was good at bird camp.Mom came up from time to time on the weekends, so I got to show her my stuff.  Here are some pictures of me and Jamie working a bird.  Uncle Ronnie was handling the bird, and mom was taking pictures and watching.  Even if I say so myself, I did awesome.In this picture I had found the bird and was pointing.  They had the check cord on me so I couldn’t bust in and flush the bird.  That is part of being steady.  Jamie was holding the end of the check cord.  I like the check cord because it reminds me to be good.

Jamie slowly worked her way down the check cord in preparation for the flush.

And the flush.  I got to watch, but couldn’t move from my spot.  Jamie was helping to remind me what to do.

I did good because Jamie just had to hold her hand on my collar as a reminder.  I didn’t really try to move to chase that bird.  Mom was really proud of my work. After working I got to run the fields while Mom was walking, and then take a dip in the tank.  Jamie and Uncle Ronnie had gone back to the camp to work some other dogs. This is a picture of me heading out in a field.  I was pretty tired, but still wanted to see if I could find a bird and show Mom how good I was doing even without Uncle Ronne and Jamie.

I was disappointed we didn’t find any more birds, but I do like to cool off in the tank.  Mom let me swim for a while before we headed back to camp.  Mom had to get home and I had to get back to my job of helping out around camp.

But the day wasn’t quite over yet.  I still had one more surprise for Mom.  On the way back I decided it would be good to run the fence line.  After all allot of birds hang out on fence lines.  And just as I was about to give up, there it was, that heavenly scent that I had been looking for so I could show my stuff.  The only problem was this bird wasn’t sitting still, so this was going to be really hard.  Boy did I want to give chase to that bird.  Then in  my mind I heard it, “Steady Ringo boy, steady.”  So, I locked on point.  Mom was watching, I could see her out of the corner of my eye, but before she could get the picture of my pointing that dang bird flew.  ”Steady Ringo boy!” I did it!!! Steady to wing and all by myself, and mom got my picture as I watched that bird fly away.

THAT is Steady to Wing!!

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