A Day of Rest at SP Kennel

10 November 2012
5:31 PM

Sunrise at	9:11 AM	in direction	132°	Southeast
Sunset at	3:57 PM	in direction	227°	Southwest

Duration of day: 6 hours, 45 minutes (6 minutes, 38 seconds shorter than yesterday)

Black and White  - Cutter and JayJay enjoying the snow in our yard

The dogs at SP Kennel trained three days in a row and today was a day off.  A light snow fell for much of the day, clogging left hand lanes of four lane roads as drivers stuck along the lanes that were most heavily traveled.  The temperature has been warm all day, 20F or so.

Before leaving, I took a cloth and rubbed it over Cutter, just to be sure I had enough of his smell for those that might miss him.  It wasn't necessary.  Several smelled my clothing thoroughly - Tug, his litter mate, Chica with whom he mated for the tennis litter, Puppet who took solace in his presence, his son Mac, and spectacular lead dog, Quito, were the most eager to seek out his scents.

Having run regularly over the last three days, the dogs were very relaxed and ready to rest today.  I visited each one, only skipping Lester who was just too shy and the littlest pups who were in the big pen behind the Golf litter.  I figured I would be mauled from every direction if I made my way to that pen and satisfied myself by greeting the Golf Litter for the first time.  But I will say that Olivia's and Nacho's puppies are spectacularly beautiful.

Biscuit's and Quito's first litter are settling down, except for Pepe who is still a madman.  Yet even he was more approachable than other visits.  Happy was in good spirits and also calmer than she has been at other times.  She is now near the back of the yard and that seems to suit her.  Mac is thin, like his sire - Cutter - was around that age.  They told me he is getting extra feedings right now.  Sissy has chewed around her kennel door, to the point that she has a large round opening.  She seems to be the only one that is driven to chew to that degree.  I wondered how she would fare when it really got cold and the opening to her kennel was so big, but she was curled in front of the opening.  It seemed she liked being in a position to look out easily.  

Olivia, whose litter is the youngest crew at SPK, is still in the process of storing energy after whelping and has not as much hair or weight as she normally does.  Most certainly, being a mother has changed her demeanor as she was not the over-the-top exuberant young lady over in the corner.  In place of her come-see-me-NOW attitude was a quiet dignity and confidence that she would not be left out.  Puppet and I think Rose were in the house/yard pens used for the research study this summer.  Puppet was the most excited to find Cutter's smells and very sweet to me.  But then all the dogs were especially sweet and welcoming today.  Teresa, my daughter, and I are co-sponsoring a second dog, IV, so I took more time to be with her.  She is a smidgen of a thing, much smaller than her solid brother, Chemo.  She has impeccable manners.

I had a cup of coffee, not my usual brew but one I indulge when at SPK, while I sat and visited with Moira and Megan.  They are holding down the fort while Aliy and Allen are away and both are truly engaging and interesting women who feel very fortunate to be a part of the SPK team.  I did not see Ryne although she will be back to run dogs tomorrow.

I came home to the reverse sniff-a-thon as our four dogs sorted through the many interesting odors of the kennel.  Cutter was the most thorough, but not overly so.  He was more interested in being let out to run around the yard with the JayJay and waiting for dinner, a big event at our house, for sure!  It's been an absolutely wonderful day.