Foster Puppies

We have been fostering a litter of four puppies for the last couple of weeks.  They needed somewhere where they could stay together and also be socialized around friendly adult dogs until ready to go to new homes.  Although we are both very busy with work, we volunteered to try to give them a good start in life here.  

They arrived at 6 weeks old and had been well cared for.  Lou, Gus, Otter and Jack settled in very quickly and our own dogs were insanely excited about the new additions.

Not very much is known about their heritage, except that they are 1/4 Bernese Mountain Dog.  They certainly are chunky puppies that will likely grow into fairly large dogs.  It's interesting to observe all of the differences between them and our flat-coat litters.

We are fostering the puppies for Windy City Canine Rescue in Lethbridge and they already all have homes lined up and/or adoptions pending.

The cats are helping to socialize the puppies too.

Cava and Gus

Cava and Puffin are teaching Otter to dig

Meet Blue

Back in March we had the pleasure of meeting Blue on his long trip from Fall Flight kennels in Wisconsin to Edmonton.  Blue is the only male from the Tinbie x Trina litter and we are very pleased that he will be living in Alberta and we will get to see him grow up.  We would have happily kept him here, but he belongs to Teva's owners, Darren and Michele.  

Meeting Salander

Father and son portrait

Blue and Tinbie

The Ups and Downs of Breeding Dogs

We seem to have had more than our fair share of the "downs" so far this year.  Among them, Cava did not get pregnant, so we won't be having a spring litter.  We are considering our options for another litter when our girls next come into season, but have not made any firm decisions at this point.  We had a lot of stress in our lives right after Cava was bred, so it's possible she picked up on that and decided it was not such a good time to have puppies.

However, there has been some good puppy news.  Back on Boxing Day, Tinbie became a father again - to 5 puppies, 4 girls and 1 boy, all black.  The mother is the lovely Ch Rockyhill's Walkin on Sunshine (Trina), at Fall Flight kennels in Wisconsin. If all goes well, the sole male from that litter will be on his way to Alberta later this week.  We look forward to meeting him welcoming him to the Blazingstar family!  He will live in Edmonton with Darren and Michele and hopefully help to fill the hole left by Teva.

"Blue Boy" (Tinbie x Trina) at 7.5 weeks old

On February 27th, 8 more Tinbie puppies were born in South Carolina.  Sadly, 6 of the puppies were stillborn.  Thankfully the two remaining liver girls and their mother, Ch Flatout Carbonated Drink (Fanta) are doing very well.  

Our golden friend Abby whelped 7 healthy puppies on February 17th and I've managed to sneak a quick visit to see them already.  I am going to have to get my puppy fixes by visiting and photographing them over the next few weeks!

Remembering Teva

Blazingstar Tansley CD 

September 27^th 2006 – January 23^rd 2013

Teva was put down on January 23^rd, 2013.  She was a lively 6.5 year old flat-coated retriever in the prime of her life. 

In the middle of January 2013 she showed symptoms of a fever and blood work suggestive of an infection.  Being intact, pyometra (a uterine infection) was suspected.  An ultrasound was scheduled for the following day.  Based on her breed and the ultrasound, the specialist diagnosed her with multiple tumours, most likely being histiocytic sarcoma.  They reported that the spleen, liver and possibly the intestines were affected.  Prednisone was prescribed.  After a long day at the clinic, her devastated owners took her home where she could be comfortable. 

After a few days, Teva went downhill quickly and she was put down five days after her ultrasound.  As her breeders, and because Teva had produced one litter for us, we asked that an autopsy be performed.  Teva’s regular vet performed the autopsy.

The results were shocking.  The vet found a large mass (>15cm) of infective and other material. In the mass was a substantial bundle of surgical gauze.  The vet collected and submitted numerous samples for pathological analysis.   The gauze must have been left in her abdomen after her c-section to remove her 8 puppies, almost 3 years earlier.  A truly terrible mistake.

The pathology report showed that there was in fact some cancer present  – hemangiosarcoma.  In her vet’s opinion, the primary source for Teva’s cancer was the mass that had formed as a result of the gauze.  While her spleen was normal (contrary to the ultrasound findings), cancer had spread to her liver.  Scientific literature led us to discover that cancer (including hemangiosarcoma) can be triggered in both humans and animals by the presence of foreign bodies, including gauze. 

More About Teva

Like most flat-coated retrievers, Teva had a boundless zest for life.  She was an early riser that met every day with optimistic wags.  Teva was driven to retrieve everything and anything, but had a special passion for frisbees and exceptionally large sticks (logs?). Food was an important part of her life and she didn’t meet too many foods that she didn’t like, including all sorts of fruits and vegetables.  Being fed on time was a big priority in her life.

Teva’s speed on land was legendary and something she passed on to her puppies. 

Super speedy out to a bumper or bird, she also raced back to her owner at equal velocities.  

A lovely example of her breed in both mind and body, Teva was shown occasionally and was just one point away from finishing her Canadian Championship.

Inside, she was a sweet and gentle soul and epic couch-snuggler and bed-warmer.  As a mother, she was one of the best – attentive, gentle, playful and always eager to spend time with her puppies. 

Her zest for life, great personality and sweet nature is greatly missed by everyone who knew her, but most of all by her owners, Darren and Michele.

Meet Willow!

She looks like lots of fun! (photo courtesy of Cathy Johnson)

This is Tinbie's daughter, Willow.  Tinbie was bred to Dolly, (CH Whazthat's How Spicy You Want It TD) back in the middle of August.  As Dolly is in Washington, we shipped fresh chilled semen.  Willow's breeder, Jeanne Allen, has kept Willow and we look forward to seeing her grow up.

Dolly

Dolly is a daughter of Arrow (CH Dexmoor's Shoot The Moon UD JH OA OAJ WCX TDI CGC), an outstanding flat-coat that we have long admired.

New Addition to Blazingstar

Just before Christmas we welcomed a new feline to our pack.

Meet Blomkvist, Salander's sidekick.

We were worried that our older cat, Salander might not appreciate the new addition.  It took her a few days to warm up to him, but now they are best friends.

Salander is a working cat.  Her primarily job is to keep our kennel and gardens free of rodents.  Her other role is to educate puppies in the ways of cats.  But she does tend to get lonely when we are away with the dogs, so we have been wondering about getting her a companion.

Like Salander, Blomkvist is 100% Alberta ranch cat.  We got him from Phantom Ridge Ranch at 8 weeks old.  His was the only surviving kitten from a litter and his mother had stopped looking after him.  Being so young we were hopeful that Salander would be more likely to accept him.

In less than a week Salander and Blomkvist were playing together, grooming each other and curling up in a warm ball of pure snuggly stripy-ness.

Because he's so small and it's so cold, Blomkvist only gets to spend short periods of time outside and always under our supervision.

Wishing Everyone a Merry Christmas