EARLY A.M.s HERE

Well, all week long Piper and Margaret have been letting us know when they want to get up. This can be the down side (if any!) of raising puppies. Normal time is 4:30 a.m. (I work in Pittsburgh at 6:30 a.m., hence the ungodly hour). This week they have decided that 3:30 a.m. is the time they choose to get up. Try as I might, it's still 3:30 a.m. to them. So...we need a new strategy. I have a few up my sleeve, the first being to FINISH the kennels!!! They can't go to bed later, because then they'd be up after I went to bed! Otherwise, they are sooooooooooo funny! The up side of having puppies (there are many in my book) are their antics and watching them grow with individual preferences and development. Latley Margaret has taken to hunting for some piece of us to carry, sofa throws or pillows, for example. Piper now decides that when she is done eating in the kitchen with the other half of our crew it's her duty to check her email with my husband. lol Then she waits for Mai, the terminally slow eater, to finish eating before she'll go out again voluntarily. She's the social worker in the family...so thoughtful.

Wren is about mid-cycle now in her heat, so we watch her like a hawk in the yard. Dickens is still serenading her when he can.

Well after a few days of experimenting, the culprit of the 3:30 a.m. alarm is Margaret!!! Poor Piper is as quiet as a church mouse, but her sister INSISTS on getting up at 3:30 am.!!! With Wren in the kitchen for the short term, until she's out of season, they must be alert to her movements. In any case, it was a LONG week!

The hair pile is getting bigger and bigger in our trash. All but Wren is blowing coat now. I am expecting Labrazilla to arise from the hair and walk the earth soon. There certainly is enough hair to create a behemoth like a labrazilla.

It is NOT a weekday, I repeat WREN, it is NOT a weekday! I was woken up at 5:30 a.m. Wren, now in season, is staying in the kitchen to keep my wood floors clean from the discharge. Well, she's figured out, like her mother, how to get around the gate and was up on our bed with my shoe waiting to go out. *sigh* Another hour and I would have had enough sleep. But, at that time in the morning, once someone is up and about, EVERYONE wants to be up and about! So, everyone is up and about in their respective yards waiting for breakfast. I hosed the mud off of them yesterday in the kennels, so it will be a delight to see how muddy they have gotten again. At least it didn't rain last night. I hope I can stay awake until the "Sopranos" tonight. *yawn*

A friend in AZ sent me this picture she took of Dickens at the Potomac labrador specialty held in April every year. Here he is showing his stuff in the 12-18 month black dog class. I just love this boy!

MEET THE LABRADORS

I thought it be a good idea to introduce our labradors before I start blogging about them. First, our house dogs. These are our retired dogs who have earned their right to live out the rest of their lives in the house. The keep watch over the house and cats, and keep our feet warm on cold winter nights. Though we consider all of our labradors as family, we can't accommodate all of them in the house. The youngest and active show dogs are in the kennels when not romping the yards.

Our oldest is Bess, pictured above, the sentinel of the house. She is a great watchdog, companion, and bed buddy. Bess, now 11½ years old, needed one major to finish her championship, but our moves and living the desert interfered with our goal to finish her. She teaches our puppies the proper respect and yet is very tolerant of them.

Next in line is our beloved Wistful, on the right. Wistful is an English import, and by my eye, is nearly perfect. She has a wonderful confirmation, and is one of the brightest labradors I've ever known. Wistful is my shadow and she has two goals in life...first to please herself, then next to please me. She's a firecracker, and unfortunately to say, is one step ahead of us all the time. Wistful gave us three beautiful litters and is now a retired brood bitch accompanying me places.

Wren is Wist's daughter from her first litter. Wren is a our current brood bitch and open black show bitch. She's a delight to have. If I am not actively trying to grow coat on her for showing, she also is a resident house dog. Wren has one quirk that is a bit frustrating for us, though. She carries our shoes and doesn't always tell us where she last left them!



Dickens, our only male, is Wren's half brother, whelped from Wist's last litter. He's a BIG GOOBER! We just ADORE this boy! He is a hunk, a silly man, and a bull in a China shop. He has already garnered a few points towards his championship, and we hope to finish him, preferably owner/handled. Dickens does live in the kennel for now. He's a sweet boy and is always fishing to find a way to play with our puppy girls.

Mai Tai is our current co-own and only chocolate labrador. I've never been sold on chocolates, but more and more I am seeing nice ones in the ring. I can probably name more chocolates I like right now than yellows. She's a PIP! Her main goal in life is to torture her older kennel mates, and play with her puppy pals, our other two babies. She is the S-L-O-W-E-S-T eater I've every owned! But, at 6½ months old, she's coming together nicely.

Piper, right, and her sister, Margaret, below left, are the current puppies we are running on from our litter in January out of Wren. Piper is our only yellow at the moment. She's a very sweet puppy and quite eager to please. Margaret, on the other hand, is more like her grandmother Wistful, a schemer. Margaret has her mother's penchant for carrying things around the house, and ultimately, things we can't find easily. They are staying with us for a while, and also live in the kennel along with Mai and Dickens when not digging in the yard somewhere.











Stay tuned for developing antics from the Mariwyl gang!!

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE IN LATIN
Ego vexillo unitoruum statuum americae ac rei publicae quam refert ipsum fidelitatae voveo. Uni nationi sub deo, indivisible, cum libertate atque justicia omnibus.

This is how I learned it. We recited it every day before class started in Mr. Kuna's 8th grade Latin class at Wilson Jr Sr High School in Easton, PA, c. 1964-1965.

The title of this blog is a simple statement of who I am and how I primarily identify myself. Despite holding a Master's Degree from Bryn Mawr College in social work, I have dedicated my recreational life to my passion for breeding and showing labrador retrievers. I say "recreational life" because I work to SUPPORT my recreational life. Though my life is dedicated to my labradors, I am not one dimensional by any means. I am a Gemini. I am supposed to be able to, and can, do many things at once and well. Rather Mercurial. My passion does not begin or end with my labradors. I am passionate about many things. My husband, my children, and my grandchildren. I am passionate about justice, equality, the forgotten, and the rights of all living creatures in general. You'll never see me squash a bug unless it's out to get me. Enjoy the show!