Roma at heart

Although it isn't quite fall yet, the weather here has been pretty glorious the last week or so, upper 80s at most and then only briefly, mostly in mid or even lower 70s thanks to hurricane Fay, so it FEELS like fall. That's all it takes for me to get this urge to be going or doing every fall just like clockwork. I don't know if it was all those years spent in school when you know you are going back in the fall thus you are "doing something" or just some strange seasonal wandering urge I get but I could just take off in the fall and spend the season going hither and thon (great archaic phrase).

Just knowing that I have plans to spend a week roaming Northern NM ( in November) and then another week and a half roaming Southern NM (in December) at least gives me some hope for venting this frustration I have right now with being a responsible human that goes to work every day when I really want to be wasting that $3.50 a gallon gas burning up the roads headed toward the sunset. I'm going to come up with an itinerary ( subject to change of course but I'm pretty anal retentive about schedules so it probably won't change much) for both of those trips and post them here in hopes some other adventurous souls might want to either ride out there with me or caravan along.

What a job

I'm not sure anyone would believe what my job was like if I told them. Even on film I suspect it would be surreal and people would say, "yeah that's Hollywood for you." I have 20 students all of them adult convicted male felony offenders, some for violent crimes, some for property crimes. No boy scouts here. Do I know what they are in for? Well, if I want to know I can find out with a phone call but for my purposes ( teaching) I don't need to know. My exception to that rule is if I am going to have them help me on a project that requires me to be there early when I'm locked up alone with a group of 4-6 or 7 at 4 AM then yes I want to know but for the most part no I don't care.

While only one of the mission statements of the department is to help reintegrate these men back into society, my theory is that is the most important one. Specific skills aren't nearly as needed by most of these guys as are social skills because believe me that they are lacking. If they are working on a project with someone and they think the person they are working with isn't trying or needs to do something differently do they ever TRY to have a calm discussion with their partner? Almost never. Instead they run to me, "Ms. Moore, Ms. Moore, I can't work with Billy Bob, he gets on my nerves or he is lazy or he won't do this or he can't do anything right or he has a booger on his lip." You get the idea. I say"Bubba, have you tried talking to Billy Bob?" "No, I just can't talk to him."

Yes, it is like they are socially retarded, so I mediate it seems most days in the hopes that when some of these men leave that they won't come back (recidivism rate is around 50% though) because they are so unable to cope with work partners that they beat somebody senseless at their first job post release.

Yes, my knives are chained and padlocked to the work tables. Hard to chase somebody around with a 250 pound stainless steel table attached to it.

Had to change my blog colors

It was pointed out to me that a psycho had copied my layout and colors so I thought I'd change it a bit. These are kind of wild but they'll do for now. Was out walking earlier just thinking about my NM trips this fall. I can't wait. I sure hope my little dog Vger heals up for those. Looks like he is out for September and maybe October but if I can get him in shape by the end of November I'll be happy.

I've been tagged!!

Not quite like a whitetail deer but tagged nonetheless by my friend Todd to come up with 6 things that the generic you may not know about me. So here goes.

1. I have a bachelors degree in psychology and lack a masters degree by 2 classes, unfortunately it is doubtful I will ever again be motivated enough to go back but I'm not unhappy or unfulfilled about it.

2. By trade I am a teacher in a medium security male prison. So really if you want to offend me or scare me you'll have to up the ante a lot.

3. I have bred over 30 American champion Borzoi ( conformation) a few that finished in Europe and two that were Canadian champions. I don't particularly like dogshows (although they can be fun places to socialize and see old friends and make new ones) so most of these were finished by their owners not myself. Where most of my money is spent is at performance events and have bred over 35 Borzoi that made it to at least their FCH or AKC FC some of them are AKC dual champions, multiple LCM titled dogs including two #1 ASFA Borzoi, also a handful of straight racing dogs including two #1 Borzoi there (one number 1 all breeds) and what may be my proudest moment was hearing from a friend that a bitch of mine that she owns finished her NOFCA CC this year. If only I could get to those fields more often!

4. I have drawn in charcoals, pen and ink and dabbled in painting over the years. Once upon a time I actually won a 1st place for a pen and ink drawing I did at a local art show ( yes there were way more than one entry ) . It was of a Borzoi head, imagine that. Sometimes I think when I retire I need a little shotgun shack not too far off of some Interstate out west ( I10? I40? I80?) where I can paint bad sunsets and rocks and sell them to tourists . What a great retirement that would be.

5. Despite having a houseful of "death" to cats, I actually own two housecats Beevis and Peaches. Peaches is a GA girl about 9 years old that my friend Vickie Littleton gave to me before she moved to VA. Beevis is just a local double for President Clinton's cat "Socks" . Actually I only have one dog that would bother the housecats, the rest of them have had a faceful of Beevis and his claws and think it best to leave him alone.

6. Prior to discovering the still great American West my vacations were always spent on the Gulf Coast of Florida swimming, and snorkeling which I love to do. Then there was that year the bull sharks tasted all the tourists and suddenly the thoughts of swimming in places I'd gone before lost it's appeal. Of course it doesn't help that New Mexico and Wyoming are so scenic and have jackrabbits either.

Feet of Clay

I am so unenthused about both of the presidential candidates I could puke. One that cries "change" "change" but has nothing of substance to say much like a parrot that has learned one word, the other a fellow that up until this election I rather liked because he did often "buck" his party but now that he is a presumptive nominee he is stepping in line and marching with the good ole' boy conservative band again.

My great grandmother was a very dark skinned, black eyed little lady born in 1897 who remembered when women weren't allowed to vote. Before she died in 1978, she instilled in me the importance that women SHOULD always vote, we have been disallowed this right in the past, and to not vote lays waste to all the work and magnificent sacrifice of those that came before us. Pearlie McKinley Cope walked everywhere and come election day she would walk several miles to wherever her designated polling place was if need be. So, I really feel like I must vote.

Feet of clay is a reference to neither candidate however but one of the possible VP choices for Obama, ie. Edwards. Now while I don't care that Edwards had an affair ( any more than I cared that Clinton did which is NADA) he did voice some minor distate about Clinton's behavior at the time everyone was flapping their arms and squawking about it. I had hoped that perhaps Obama would pick Hilary or Edwards as his Veep but Hilary didn't make the short list and Edwards obviously is no longer a player in many senses of the word. A shame too for many reasons.

I keep hoping McCain will pick someone like FL's governor Criss as his Veep candidate because from all of his environmental work that I've been reading about, party be damned he may be a sheep in wolf's clothing and I might be able to stand that ticket.

How do Florida folks do it?

How can you live somewhere that it seems every year at least part of the state has to make a mass exodus due to the possibility of a hurricane hitting the state? Even though I must grant that Florida is one of the more spectacular states to drive through ( like eye candy), the thought of having to live in fear like that would not drive me to retire there as some do. Of course it was pointed out to me that unlike tornadoes that are regular monsters in Tennessee that hurricanes do give you notice. "Hey everybody in a 50 mile swath GET OUT, GO NORTH JAM I75 up like a can of sardines"

I really enjoy my trips to Florida when I go but I can't imagine having to pack up my animals ( and I damn sure am not leaving without them) for such an event ( or multiple events) as this. God bless Florida and keep them through the hurricane season this year.

More Do as I say Not as I do

It would be funny if it didn't have such far reaching repercussions for the animals but the cyberworld is just rife with discussions on email lists about what it is that constitutes a responsible breeder. Some of the expectations that supposedly we have of each other ( and that buyers have of us) are
a. that puppies be microchipped or tattooed before leaving
b. that health testing be done on parents and either in a database or proof provided
c. that the ability to keep an entire litter be present before you do the breeding ( this was hammered into my head by my "mentor" in the breed and it is something I have kept)
d. that the parents have some sort of bona fides ( either in beauty or performance, now while this isn't a requirement it is usually a preference)
e. that the puppy be warranteed

Apparently though these things seem to be only important as long as some are discussing other people's dogs or practices. Classic examples
1. the MANY MANY breeders who do not microchip their puppies, this is far further widespread than I would have thought and some of the most supposedly enlightened breeders have placed puppies far and wide without any permanent ID. So what happens if the dog is lost?
2. Breedings are routinely done with no health testing, sometimes the reason given ( and I just LOVE this one ....not) oh the dogs were TOO YOUNG TO HEALTH TEST. EXCUSE ME but CERF registers dogs no matter what age they are. It doesn't take a rocket scientist either to take your dog to a veterinarian or better yet a cardiologist for an auscultation and it costs less than a bag of dogfood to register these results. Come on people give something back to the breed. What is funny is the people some of them highly educated calling some of these backyard crazies and inquiring about these puppies. When asked why "oh I might find something good". Well honestly as if a complete novice could sort through a pedigree (that is assuming the breeder knows anything other than who the parents were) and figure out who was healthy , who died of bloat etc.
3. I actually had someone get all fluffy like a cat's tail on some list when I commented people should be in a position to keep the entire litter before breeding one. Poof, novices came out of the woodwork to tell me I'm wrong about that one. SOrry Charlie Tuna's but that one I am dead right about. If you can't keep them you don't need to breed them.
4. See section 2, as if most rank novices ( and some not so rank)
could sort a pedigree or pick a good puppy
5. What really bowls me over or yanks my shorts are people who quiz quiz quiz you out , all bout the dog or it's parents, etc etc. Then they show up 3 months later with some dog that they found at "Super Elite kennels" that has a bad bite missing a load of teeth and a gay tail, no front, and guess what their contract covers nothing at all IF they actually have a contract. What happened to these enlightened , concerned buyers? Were they only interested in asking questions if the puppy was possibly coming from a real breeder but it's OK to meet none of the responsible criteria if you just had two dogs running in your yard and decided to let them have a litter. I really cannot follow the logic on this one

Bloodwork update

everyone after my last Vanderbilt visit July 17. Well although my iron and vitamin D levels still show low on the blood work, my nurse practicioner said that she was pleased as my "stores" were back up so she added a vitamin D to my regime, and another calcium ( Lord I take FIVE big calcium citrates with D a day now) and said to go to non Rx iron in addition to the two multis I take daily so that was good news. Even better news she said if I didn't lose another pound I would be considered a success story for them as my fat % of body weight is now in a normal range and I had lost 40 pounds in the last 3 months but built 20 pounds of muscle ( meaning I lost 60 pounds of fat). She said that she never sees those kinds of numbers on patients and is constantly having to encourage patients who are losing to exercise so that they don't lose muscle mass too ( and I had lost 20 pounds of muscle in the first 3 months when I lost 47 pounds). So I am just keeping on doing what I'm doing, a lot (6 miles daily 5x a week) of power walking and I've added a light workout (for toning) 5x a week with weights that was written up by one of my students that is an ex body builder. I just started that last week so it is way too early to report on it but I can tell you that I think I could walk just about anyone down to a nub in the open field at this point even though I am "pushing 50" (well I'll be 47 in January). I can't say enough good things about my surgeon Dr. William O. Richards and his team at Vanderbilt, they are truly a compassionate and talented group.

While we are talking about old dogs

Another really difficult thing to do that only applies if you are a dog breeder is balancing when you are able/ready to breed a litter with when you really "need" to do it. Now you should never do it if you don't have the space or finances to keep them all if it came to that, even though that is rarely the case in today's economy you really don't know. Sometimes you have the space and $$ but it is so much work and so emotionally draining that you aren't up to it and sometimes you have to make yourself be up to it. Why? There's a dog or a bitch you "need" to use for whatever reason that is of an age that to wait makes it marginal either that they will be fertile or that it will be safe to try ( mostly with a bitch). A friend of mine was in that position this year with bitches all getting older so she bred them and luck smiled on her with one litter being quite small, the other one completely spoken for and two of a moderate size with a lot of interested folks. This year is sort of the same thing for me, I had a 5 year old bitch I bred absolutely lovely puppies all spoken for quickly now if their mother only grows some hair back she can go out and look for her finishing major. That was the easy one. There's also an 8 year old very healthy beautiful girl from one of my earlier litters everyone loves her curvy, broad muscular and pretty from a litter strong for prey drive and good bites and dentition. Two of her sisters have had a litter. One of them bred to a nice dog but not the dog for her (my opinion and I get to have one as the unwitting cobreeder) as he shared her same faults and strengths so to my taste the litter was like the parents and just sort of plain but sound. The other sister was bred to a dog very different from her but related and produced a spectacularly good litter both in the ring and field ( field as in open field). I didn't keep anything from that first litter and the one I had from the second litter was lost sadly at a young age (3) which makes me a little more "hungry" to breed their sister. Another breeder tried to buy her years ago ( but she had actually just been sold to a novice who later returned her for being the "wrong color" as though that was something that had changed? ) and yet another leased her to try for a litter when she was a two or three year old but she is BIG and they were unable to get a live cover, the AI didn't take and I don't think they ever had a litter sired by the dog they wished to use with her. As usual I digress. Anyway, her owner and I may just bite the bullet this year and try one last time. This is one of those breedings that as a breeder you truly do for yourself because nothing else would make it worth the worry. I am pretty nervous about that though due to her age and I may just schedule a C section for her, I don't know.

Of course she isn't the only girl whose born on date is getting older and older. Another dear friend of mine has a bitch I bred who is over 6 years old pictured to the left here. My friend has only bred 2 litters in 30 years of being in the breed although she has cobred 3 other litters whelped here and enjoyed puppies from those litters. She does a lot of local mixed breed rescue and has been dedicated to that forever so it is rare that she has the time and energy ( she also is a teacher ) to even consider a litter but she has also had bad experiences with some litters in the past she tried to breed with older bitches so she decided this year she was going to breed her girl if she passed her health testing ( which she did). She sent her over here and I AI'd her with a younger male (2 year old) who just passed his health testing and conformationally is a great match for her. Time will tell if she is pregnant or not. She went back home the weekend after her AI's and I imagine I'll exercise my option to take a puppy from the litter and to cobreed it since both parents are of my breeding and I had input on it. Fortuneately there are several folks/friends and breeders who already want a puppy from that litter so I hope to be able to help her place them. Her pedigree has two of the most dynamic performance males in the breed close up and the sire while unrelated has two more truly talented males very close up. I think he himself has the potential to be a powerful sire for those wanting to breed performance dogs that they can show.

Hope is really all we have when it is all said and done now isn't it? After the hard work and thought that goes into anything that is.

The old and the not so old

Here's a picture of Neechee the "old man" here at 9.5 years old. While his face is finally starting to gray and he has slowed down, he still considers it his job to rage at the cats through his crate once a month (Oh how I would love to have him running loose inside when I get home in the evenings but I'd have to sacrifice the cats and that isn't going to happen) and to sniff the fluffy girls and see if they might like an older man. It is one of the more difficult things about dog ownership watching them age but the alternative having been through it is just as bad. The longer they live the more they entwine themself with you though, losing a young dog is tragic, losing an old dog is epic, so long live the Neech, I don't need any epics for awhile.


On a lighter note this tiger stripey looking pup is "Ruslan" or Avalon
Zavaristsky Athos from our "Z" litter. He is living large in Kansas and his owner who is a very good dog trainer is already channeling some of that puppy energy into the organized pursuit of a dumbbell. Bully for her!!

Nice Visit, Fall Schedule and Sundry

My mother had a chance to drive up here and visit for the last 5 days. We had a great time, the weather cooperated and we didn't have anything over I think 88 degrees here so it was really nice. It is unfortunate Florida is so far away but it just leaves me something to look forward to when I fly down there in November.

A heads up for anyone flying to Florida there is an airline called Allegiant Air and they are headquartered in Florida and have ridiculously low airfare, example my roundtrip ticket to Tampa from Chattanooga is $192. Now I don't know about anyone else but I certainly cannot drive down there for that.

This weekend I hope its nice and pleasant too since I'll probably be working on the yard some. I think Suzanne is coming over to visit Saturday. One more at home weekend before Labor Day weekend which is when we have the Silken Windhound specialty in Calhoun, GA, then everything gets crazy. My September schedule tentatively looks like this
an asterisk * means that particular weekend isn't in stone but the weekends I'm judging of course are since you commit to those months ahead of time.

Sept 6 and 7 AKC trial in Arkansas *
Sept 12, 13, 14-ASFA, AKC trials and Shows in Chattanooga, TN
Sept 20th-dogshow in Atlanta with the Borzoi entry supported by
the Borzoi Club of Greater Atlanta
Sept 27 and 28-judging AKC trial in Altoona, FL which reminds me I need to make hotel reservations

October is an open month right now. I have really sort of stretched myself thin in November with an event most every weekend, will put those up here later as we get closer to the events but those events are all in stone as they either involve judging or my trip out to New Mexico. December is going to be a bit slower with just an ASFA trial at the first of the month then judging the regional ASFA trial in Tallahassee then nothing until the last week when I'll drive out to Deming.

Butterflies peacocks and projects

Two of God's gifts to the world. They are nothing but eye candy, and I LOVE them. We have a couple of butterfly bushes in the front yard, now in the sweltering heat of summer they are covered with butterflies. Here's a handsome tiger swallowtail ( I think that is what they are called). I took a bunch of these photos some are good enough for enlargements which I'll probably do just because I like them. Well, apparently you'll have to wait for the photos this *&%^$% blogger site won't let me upload anything tonight and no I haven't used all my space here. Crap . Apparently it has been going on all day today when I read the help site lots of folks have posted about their inability to put photos up. Finally 8/5 I loaded the photos, argh.

Here is my pair of black shouldered blue India peacocks. The one with the darker chest is the male, the light grey is the female. They are only a year old, she won't lay eggs for another year and the male won't have a train of any real sort for two more years. We also have a pied India blue male that was hatched here about 4 years ago and this year he finally had a beautiful tail. (Did you know they shed the tail out and regrow it every year).

Another bit of eye candy here is my most recent project, a new walkway in the front yard. It was a bit of sweaty manual labor but I love stuff like this. Next I think I'll fix up maybe an 8x 8 section with pavers and put a nice wrought iron bench on it and bird bath and some more solar lights.