New Products Coming

We were at UKC Premier up in  Kalamazoo, MI and I got requests for two items I had not considered before...

1. Obedience Articles (leather)  I braided purple and black together in the herringbone braid and sewed them closed with leather lacing.  They came out great and the gal who gave me the idea was so excited that she used them at Valpariso, In obedience!!! There are 6 in a set and since we have so many colors they can come in a wide variety.

2. German Shepherd Dog 12 foot leashes.  Our leather does NOT come in that long - SO I braided the ends of three 4' lengths of 3/8" wide leather and then toward the snap end of the lead I put some extra braiding for holding when the dog is close; and of course a loop on the other end.  The gal who gave me this idea used it immediately in the ring and was very excited about it.  So this will also go up on the website for others to purchase!

Peter and I are so busy these days, we do custom orders at each show, since we can't have every possibility that people want.  Peter is doing OK, but tires easily and unexpectedly has to take a nap.  We're taking this next weekend off to travel to TX and make product so that our racks will not look so bare when we get there. 

We just ordered 18 hides and expect to get them hopefully by San Antonio... havn't heard from Jeff yet.. but we're getting two new colors for the medium and lightweight people, a lime green and a royal blue.

Much Cooler Weather

We've gone or come North depending on who's reading this.  What a nice difference in the weather, especially in the mornings.  We've gotten to Whittington, IL... just west of Rend Lake.  It's beautiful here, lots of tall, old oak, bass and maple trees.  The RV Park we're staying in; Whittington Woods; is great, they have lots of space, everything is fresh and clean.. they have even taken out some of the trees to allow people with satellite domes to catch it.  They have done lots of renovations since they took over and are ready for lots of campers.  We will definately put them on our list to stay at.  Especially since we're coming this way in September for the PWD national.

Peter got a virus on his computer, we'll stay here a couple of days for him to concentrate on fixing it.  GRRRR Windows & Bill Gates, I'm so glad I went to a MAC.  He's a genius on computers and the virus still got him... I feel sorry for people who have to rely on techs to fix their problems. 

GA

Well we've spent a month in GA... has been mostly nice weather, kinda muggy.  The last few days have been very warm, up in the 90's.  This last show I was outside and boy was it warm... had a fan blowing the whole time just to try to keep cool.

Hoshi has been spade... now is time to try rally and obedience.  She is coming along nicely, staying close beside me when we're walking.  She is full of it and hates to be on restrictions like no jumping, or running.. so her exercise level is nill for the next few days.

I got a new (old) sewing machine to do the leather frizbees on, they are fun to make... I ordered and received some real deer leather in gold, red, and blue to make the stars out of and very bright colors of pack cloth for the back of the frizbee, orange, yellow, neon green.  It will show up in the grass nicely in case the dogs miss catching it.

I was asked at this show to make one large enough for Berners... I think I'll do a 9 inch one.. this should be big enough.  For now I'm only doing stars, but will try to come up with something else for variety.

Pilar has finished the PWD in ceramic and it looks good.  We will be going to the Basenji national and the PWD national this september.  I have been working on my calendar to tell where we'll be..

I've been asked to consider the International Terrier show in PA in October... if they've got room I'll definitely put it on my calendar.

Perry, GA April 09

We just finished the Atlanta KC show, it was an OK show... I had a 20' booth outside and was able to have my bicycle out front so sold quite a few K-9 bike joggers.  It's sure a cool device.  It attaches to the seat post of the bike and since it has 3 springs inside the bar the rider does not feel any pulling that the dog does.

The weather was very cooperative for that week, it was chilly in the mornings but by afternoon was nice and pleasant.  I was sure glad to be under the awing of McGill building, the wind did not bother me at all.   I had my 20' tent frame set up and the vendors on one side of me attached their rack to me after they had it blown over.  My tent was very solid.

Tomorrow I'll be setting up for the Sheltie National, Peter has been working very hard on getting leatherwork done.  I've gotten in sheltie flags, sheltie ornaments, pins and pendants... I think we'll have a good show.

Hoshi is in another heat, she came in on the 12th... this is the last straw, she is getting spayed as soon as she's out of heat.  She had been in a false pregnancy for the last 3 weeks before and her new heat came 3 months after her last one.

Peter is doing well, his blood pressure has spiked a couple of times but he has a drug that can pull it down fast and then he's ok for another while.

Hoshi and I have been bicycling around every day, she always wants more.

I got three orders of tattooers out in the last two weeks, all the vendors have now checked in this spring, so we'll have a reprieve until september when they will be ordering for the national.

I'm trying to figure out where we'll be next year, some of the eastern shows we havn't been able to do I'm going to get on the waiting list, hoping we'll get invitations.

AKC Agility

Concord, NC... what a fun show.  I got to watch some of the runs and they were fantastic.  In the booth I started selling the 2x2 weave pole video by Susan Garrett from Canada.  She is a great teacher, I've been using techniques she's taught in another video called "crate games".  Teaches the dog that the crate is a good place and also helps with their reasoning in commands like come, stay etc.

I got more K-9 Bike Joggers in stock and the sales took off on Sunday.  This is the best dog exerciser ever.  It's been improved with a handle, chrome and coating... it can't break the cord now due to rubbing and it's smoother working.  I love it and so do many of the people who came by.  A Great Dane owner says that she uses it on her bike to roadwork her Danes, they love it and she's never been pulled over with the Bike Jogger like with other devices

I use a harness with Hoshi, she is more apt to pull me along when wearing it.  She likes to work and I've also bought her a pack so that she can carry items like leather orders from the RV to the booth.

Busy Couple of weeks

Here we are in North Carolina @ Raleigh.  This show started on Tuesday with setup and then wednesday with showing.. Boy has it been a good show.  

We did Louisville last week and had a rewarding experience there.  Again we were in the Agility area and met many friends from last year.   

Here in Raleigh we've been busy every day, with one day to go Peter has just finished the special orders from today and still has some mail orders to go.  

Don't know what to expect tomorrow, will it be as busy or slower?

We've come up with a great new collar.  It's a martingale with leather for the tightener and using a brass ring for the slider.  It looks really nice and I think the buyer will be happy.  

We are always open to new ways of doing collars and leashes.

I finally got the K9 Bike jogger in this week... they are selling like hot cakes and we're ready to get a large amount in now.

Next week is the AKC agility National, I'm so excited, I've never been to one before and am expecting to see lots of rings and seeing people that I've met from all over the country to show up.

Poor Hoshi is in a false pregnancy AGAIN.  This time she's actually lactating, she is miserable, all the other times she has only stayed in the false pregnancies for a week, this time she has been in for 3 weeks and is getting more miserable with each day.  Her poor nipples are so swollen that many people wonder if she's actually pregnant.  I know better because she has NOT been NEAR a male at all!  She is being so motherly to Nougat, washing her face and ears.  Of course on the other hand she will try to hump her when she gets a chance.

We are still taking our bike rides, we have gone to the post office this week twice and have ridden around the fairgrounds the rest of the time.

North Carolina is a beautiful state, we came over the smokey mountains and they are very beautiful.  The fog is very low and we drove through some very dense spots.  It does look like smoke coming off the rocks.  Speaking of rocks, all along the road coming from Tennessee the road was cut through slate like rocks, very dark, smooth, table like... there was a river along the road and offerings of river rides on the west side, once we got over to the east side, the river was very large and much slower moving.  This I could kayak; I don't like the rapids, not for me.

The rest of what we've seen of the state is beautiful... lots of hardwoods, small meadows, older houses, slightly rolling...it's really pretty.

Snow???

We're still in Lexington, KY, last night there was a very light dusting of snow.  The gal at the desk says that this is about all they ever get.  It's so light the grass is still showing through.

Hoshi and Nougat don't like it because it makes their feet cold, so I took them out today when it was mostly melted.

Nougat is so funny, she's a little "piss pot" she goes around sniffing everything and trying to leave pea everywhere!!!  It gets so that she doesn't have anything left though.  She's awfully cute in her little coat.  She's really good about coming when I call.  I leave them both off leash when we're here at the horse park and close to the RV due to the fact that there is chain link fencing all around and no one else is here.  I haven't seen anyone even by the trailers or RV's.

Hoshi is very good about coming, I've been working with her a lot on obedience and she does really well with heeling, sit, stay come, flat, (except when it's wet or cold, she's a woose too) and will walk beside me even off lead.  Occasionally she will move too far from my heel but all I have to do is tell her "closer" and she comes right back.  I have to work now to get her to "go out" so that she will jump right or left on cue.  Her "leave it" is very consistent ... We're coming along though and having fun doing it.

Peter sees the heart dr tomorrow and then we'll come back to stay the night here and leave for Franklin on Tuesday AM.  Setup is on Wednesday.