Fence Bliss

So this morning I get a text from my sister saying that they were coming down and while I was delivering a couple puppies to the Hannah Society, they started working on my fence. By the time I returned home most of the posts were set and brackets and rails were being put on. By 6pm the whole thing was pretty much done, I just have a couple of gates to make but right now the whole thing is secured. Photos to come at a later date. To celebrate I washed dogs. Now now I'm a bit sore all over. I had the dogs in the kennel area all day to keep them out of the way and then I let them out to see if they try to test the fence. Our Penny who is a "hide behind the corner kind of pooper" went over to the area that before she climbed over to enter her pooping place and tested the fence several times before settling for pooping next to the fence. I just realized that I typed the poop word several times. You know before becoming a breeder, I never thought much about dog poop unless I stepped in it. Now poop is a way to measure how well a dog or puppy is feeling. Poop is something to clean up so more poop can be pooped again in the same area. Poop is something to scoop up, avoid stepping in and wake up to the smell of. But anyways, I'm glad to have my fence done so quickly.

Fence Woes

I have given up on my wire with metal post garden fence. Been trying for several weeks to modify it to keep the dogs out of the garden. So today with the help of my wonderful son J, I went to HD and picked up supplies to rebuild it. So far I got 3 posts cemented in. Rained off and on all day, by the time we got home and started unloading the trailer, the cement bags just about fell apart and 3 landed on the driveway.



So the plan is to set wood posts and wood rails and then better wire with a smaller 2x4 opening instead of the more open wire I had in place.



So it kind of looks like my sister's new fence around her small dog yard, but without the snow and the board going around the middle.

Thinking of Spring

I've been thinking a lot lately, well since just after Christmas, about spring and renewal. Just a hint of warmer weather has me planning my garden. What to plant and what might not work. I am thinking that I will assume that after last summer's seemly lack of warmth that I am not even going to try to grow anything that will need an extended time of warm temperatures. So I will just stick to cool weather crops like lettus, carrots and staples like potatoes and onions. Last year I mostly grew weeds that I pulled up and fed to the rabbits to process for me. I did plant some seeds and nothing came up. So for the past few weeks my endeavor has been to block the dogs from going into the garden. I won't be able to grow anything if they are digging in the beds and chewing on stuff. So I've made repairs to the 4 foot wire fence that is supposed to keep them out. but Johaan fits thru it and Fritz and Penny push down the wire until it bends over and then jump over. So I've been decorating the wire with stuff I weave thru it. Like garden hoses that the dogs chewed up and rendered unusable, sticks, broken broom handles, broken rake, metal bird bath and pieces of a wooden chair that didn't fair so well in the rainy weather. It's a work in progress and I have a few weeks more to work on it. If all else fails I will be force to set posts and build a more permanent wooden fence. I'm thinking a picket fence. I know they don't like the pickets because I already put pickets on the gate and no one goes thru it or over it. I like a bit of whimsy, so I may just go for the picket fence. I have been also wanting to enclose my front yard more. Right now I just have the front along the sidewalk fenced, but I would like to fence the sides. With the Littles I want to contain them a bit easier.

On the dog front. I have a couple first going on. Our first litter of phantom marked labradoodles from our Tawnee and Baron and our first litter of miniature poodles from Liezel and Johaan. We still have a couple of Sadie and Fritz's boys from last summer. Our Penny went into heat in January and we put her with Baron, but we didn't see ties so it is possible that nothing happened Our Hiedi just went into heat and since it's been over a year since her last litter we will be breeding her again.

We also have a couple of new editions to our pack.

This is Nixie, she is a white with black markings miniature poodle. Nixie means water sprite or pixie in German. Nixie has a go forward adventurous personality, just like our Cubby.


This is Wini, short for Winifred which means friend in German. Wini is Teddy's friend and is a very light apricot miniature poodle. She is both playful and timid. Just like Teddy.