Fannie Girl We Miss You

It has been too hard to post, hence the no posting since April. We lost our beloved Pem, Fannie, on May 25,2008. I am copying an email that I sent out about her here, as I can't really write anything more. Her presence is greatly missed in our house. The house is much quieter and not quite as hairy.

I think this is one of the hardest things that I have had to write. We lost our dear sweet Fannie girl on Sunday morning after rushing her to the emergency vet clinic. She was 15 years old and the corgi that got us into this crazy corgi thing. When she came home as a puppy, within a week she had parvo and proved she was a fighter. This last battle proved a little too much and I think she knew that the Cardis would take care of us and it was time for her to take care of Toby at the bridge. I am fighting back tears as I write this and Carleen and I are taking turns having our moments.

Saturday morning while Carleen was feeding them, Fannie collapsed while eating her breakfast. Carleen yelled for me and it appeared that Fannie was having a seizure or passed out. It was different than you would think of a seizure, but still seizure like. It didn't last long and she came of of it fine. We called our vet when they opened and got her in to see Dr. Nicki.

At the clinic, Fannie was pretty much her usual self. Trying to get behind the front counter for extra attention, treats, anything she could smuggle or con someone out of. Dr. Nicki took a look at her and didn't find anything unusual. We talked about it and decided that if she had an episode again we would run bloodwork then (her next bloodwork was due in July). Dr. Nicki said her heart and lungs sounded good and just to keep an eye on her. As most of you know, seizures are hard to diagnose and unpredictable. Looking back, she probably had time to recover from the episode and nothing was notable to find.

The rest of the day, we ran some errands and Fannie rested at home. That evening when we went to feed them, Fannie did the same thing that she did that morning. It didn't last as long and she seemed ok after coming out of it. She was a little clingy and following us around the house, but that is nothing out of the ordinary for her. That night, I slept on the floor until about 1:30 am with her, just to keep an eye on her. Once she settled in for a good night night, I went to bed.

Carleen got up at 5:15 am Sunday and woke me up, with Fannie in her arms. Fannie was panting heavily and couldn't/wouldn't walk. We decided to take her to the emergency clinic. Once we got there, the vet tech had to take her back for the Dr. to look at her, because the Dr. was in a diffcult surgery. They got our permission to run bloodwork and a cathader on her. When the bloodwork came back, the tech relayed that there was a kidney number that was off slightly, but they felt the problem was with her heart. That is all the tech could tell us at that time, because the Dr. was still in surgery.

They ended up calling the day Dr. in, since the surgery was proving difficult. Once the Dr. got there, he explained that Fannie had an arrythmia and her heart was not functioning properly. When we fed her, she would get excited and that was too much for her heart to take, which explained the "passing out" activity. There really wasn't anything we could do for her. He said we could take her home and spend more time with her, but that he really didn't know how much time she had and she would probably have a heart attack at home.

We didn't want her to suffer anymore. She gave us the "look" and her paws were getting cold. She was working so hard to try to get oxygen thru her little body. We decided to help her cross to the bridge. She laid her head on my shoulder, snuggled in and went peacefully. She did get one last one in on Carleen. As Carleen went to hug her, the corgi hair flew and Carleen literally choked on a mouthful of fur.

Fannie girl, we will miss you greatly. You showed us what living with a corgi "bitch" was all about and how you have to be smarter than the corgi. You showed us that barking is great fun, well at least for you! You showed that you had an instinct for someone that needed special attention even thought you were never certified for therapy. You patiently put up with someone getting the bright idea for Halloween costumes, hats, etc. You raised 3 Cardigan puppies after they came to live with us and showed them the ropes. You even taught Jetson how to raid the bathroom trash and drag it in the hall in just the past week. You taught Ella how to control the boys. You taught Higgins that living here was safe, fun, and just the place for him.

Goodbye sweet Fannie, give Toby hugs and kisses from us at the bridge. The house seems so quiet with you gone. And not having a sable Pem in a sea of blue merle and brindle is a strange sight for us. We miss you so much. Run with Toby and show him you are still boss.

Katrina, Carleen, and now the Cardis 3

Happy 1st Birthday Jetson!

We decided that 3 corgis weren't enough, let's go for 4!! We waited for Jetson for quite awhile. The most important thing was for the new puppy to meld with the household, but we also really wanted a blue merle. If the right puppy had came along that was a different color, the color wouldn't have mattered, but luckily the stars aligned and Jetson was born on April 26th.

Jetson is also from Cardiridge Kennels. We held our breath until we were told that he was ours for sure! The litter was nicknamed "The Big 9" by Diana and Mac from Fernbriar Cardigans in Minnesota. They raised the litter for Marla and did a great job! They had to hand raise the puppies, as momma's milk wasn't good. So they had their hands full with nine puppies!

His offical name is Cardiridge Outta This World. Jetson comes from The Jetson's cartoon!

When Diana first sent us the pics of Jetson after we found out he was going to be ours we noticed something about him that seemed a little different. mmmm....he had the most beautiful coat...mmmm....that could mean only one thing...FLUFFY!!! No, we did not set out for a fluffy and we weren't quite sure what to think when Diana said "I hope you like lots of hair!" LOL We said "No problem, we have a Dyson!" A fluffy coat (long, plush, soft) in cardigans is a automatic disqualification for the show ring. And Jetson not only had a fluffy coat, but a short tail to boot!!! It isn't real short, but more like a half tail compared to a regular cardigan tail. But he does have great bone structure!

We finally got the transport figured out and thanks to Nancy and Maddie, who met Diana and Mac 1/2 way in Iowa, Jetson made it to Nancy and Maddie's house in Lawrence, KS where we picked him up.

The next day a bunch of people came over to meet the little one. Our agility instructors, friends, and co-workers. We took him places on a limited basis, because parvovirus was very bad at that time.

He has been quite the challenge compared to the other 3. All the others house trained quickly, within a week. Well, at 5 months I was wondering if we were ever going to get him trained! BUT, I was part of the problem, after further inspection. I was constantly carrying him outside to potty, which was confusing him. Once we figured that out, the house training became easier.

And bark....goodness, he has a voice and knows how to use it. In many different ways too! We grumble, howl, bark, purr, bark, etc. The barking has gotten better, which is good. I just think he will always be a talker!

He is funny to watch, especially with the hair. It is like he has stuck his paw in a light socket. It gets wavy like an Old English Sheepdog almost. And when he has a bath, he looks so tiny wet. He is all hair! The hair gets comments everywhere we go, so lots of explaining that his coat isn't correct and there is a fluffy gene that appears from time to time in cardigans. For Halloween, we thought it appropriate for him to be the "Bad Wolf" and the other three dress as the "Pigs"! There is a video of that on Youtube.

We have started agility on a puppy scale. With no jumping anything, but maybe 4 inches occasionally, tunnels, low A-Frame, low dogwalk, and following my lead (flatwork). We did do the dogwalk at full height this weekend and off leash. I tried not to freak too bad! This is the first dog that I have trained in agility. Carleen handles Higgins, but I wanted to handle Jetson!

Jetson also loves water. The more water the better. This summer should be interesting, as it will be his first full Missouri summer with the humidity. I have a feeling the kiddie pool will be in use frequently.

Just recently he chewed the door frame that has made it thru the three others without teethmarks! It's not bad and can be repaired easily, we just chalk it up to another Jetson experience!

As I said, we are doing some agility, working on basic obedience, maybe some rally in the future, and therapy work.

Right now, it's more about being a puppy. This one is definitely teaching ME about patience and just enjoying the moments!

Here is a video of him doing weaves this past Saturday. They are very far apart (you can't tell in the video), so that he doesn't hurt his spine since he is so young.

The chute tunnel picture was celebrating his first birthday! The tiny puppy picture was the first night we had him at home. He was so tiny!

We definitely think FOUR IS ENOUGH! :)

Happy 15th Birthday!!

Fannie turned 15 today!! She got to go to work for a little while and hang out for snack day. Then she spent most of the rest of the day resting. It's hard for a 15 year old to have to do that much!

Here are a few of our favorite pics of her!! Sing her Happy Birthday!

p.s. Fannie adds that no self-respecting corgi would dress like this, but she like to indulge her mom at times!

Ella Boo Bear

I know it's been awhile since posting....busy, but really don't know with what! Now for Ella's story.

Ella came to us October 2003. We got an email from Marla G. (Cardiridge Kennels) telling us to go look at the puppy pics on her website, she thought she had a puppy that would fit in with Fannie and Higgins. Now, we weren't planning on a getting a puppy, but had tossed the idea around jokingly. One look at the picture and it was basically a given that she was to come home to us!

Ella is what is known as a mismark in the Cardigan world. She has too much white on her face and also a white spot on her side. So, she is considered pet quality, not show quality. But if she hadn't been a mismark, she would have been a killer personality in the show ring!

From the time we drove out of Marla's driveway, we knew she was meant to be. She wanted to be in the back with the rest of the pack, not on my lap! We were concerned about her and Fannie getting along. Usually multiple corgi males get along better than multiple corgi females. Fannie took Ella under her wing and made her the princess to her Highness. :)

Ella is so laid back and happy. Always a smile on her face. She has definitely been the one dog that hasn't given us any trouble at all. (knock on wood, I hope I am not jinxing this!) We did find out that she has a compressed disc area in her back, so no agility training for her. Well, she does like to run thru the kiddie tunnels we have here at the house. So we decided that she might like therapy work.

We got her TDI certified, but couldn't find a place to visit that worked out. So, then we tested with Pet Therapy of the Ozarks. She passed (thank doG I had the flu two weeks prior to chill me out some!) the test and we have started doing therapy work. One of our visits is Cox Peds. She loves to visit with just about anyone. I think once we get settled into a good routine and get a groove going, she will do awesome. I did buy her an "Elmer Fudd" hat to wear on her last therapy visit. She loves the hat and it was fun to see the looks on peoples faces. We recently acquired (on clearance!) a trout fishing vest/hat combo. She loves the thing. See the pic! Let me tell you, it's hard to fit a corgi in pet attire. They are on the stocky side, but also short.

We are hoping to maybe do some Rally training when we get some time. She loves to work and is happy when she is doing it. Her favorite spot is on the back of the love seat under the front window, so that she may survey all that goes on out front. She is also happy digging when we leave the soft dirt area open.

Here's video of "The Dig". This is her favorite area to dig in. We just fill it back in and let her dig it back out. The video is a little on the long side, but the look on her face toward the end makes it work watching for us!

Well, that's it for now. Enjoy the pictures and I will update again soon!

Fun at the Dog Club

We went to the dog club Sat. evening in a downpour to work the dogs a bit. We took Higgins, Ella, and Jetson. Fannie stayed home to sleep and get a little peace and quiet from the young ones. :)

We worked on controlled heeling. This is where you get the dog to "choose" to come to the heeling position and stay there. Higgins and Ella pretty much know how to do this, if they so choose. This was more for Jetson to have a mini lesson. Our friends: Valeri and her Golden Chase, Cindy and Border Collie Sweetie, and Kathy and her Golden Gus, came along to work with us and help.

Jetson has some trouble with focusing and BARKING loudly. He has to announce that he is there, everyone look at me, and why aren't you looking at me. We are hoping this might fade in time, it did with the others for the most part. He is still puppy, but I am not holding my breath.

Once we got to the heeling, he did pretty good. I understand why people like taller dogs...it's hard when you are tall and your dog is height challenged! (my boss asked me the other day if any of the dogs had actually grew legs yet. LOL ) He is getting better at the come command. He is pretty cute when he is at full speed and hair is flying everywhere.

So after the lesson, we decided to let the place "go to the dogs" so to speak and free play began. Chase decided not to get involved, but everyone else did. Gus is a rescue and doesn't have alot of dog manners yet. Higgins told him he was being rude! Higgins won't tell Jetson to leave him alone, but a dog bigger than he is he had no problem. Guess Jetson hasn't quite lost his puppy license yet, though I think he will soon.

Jetson took on the two big dogs and WON! He managed to get the toys away from them, put them in a pile, and then herded everyone away. There was a moment when Jetson had a toy and Gus was chasing him. Jetson looked like a receiver going for a touchdown, bobbing back and forth and out manuevering Gus the length of the room and back. Then Jetson herded Sweetie around. This was funny as Valeri's Goldens are always the ones Sweetie herds, but she couldn't herd Jetson.

That's it from the corgi gang for today. The picture above was from Dogfest this fall. I will post about Ella soon.

Higgins

Now for a little about Higgins. What a character. :) Higgins was the second of the corgis to join the gang. We had decided that we didn't want a pup, maybe a 2-3 year old dog would be a great age. We applied with Cardigan National rescue to get on the waiting list. Luckily, there aren't many Cardis in rescue, unlike Pems. We heard there was a blue merle pup that had came into rescue. mmmm....blue merle? Now, blue merle isn't rare, it's just not as common. So we talked to our contact and they thought the puppy would fit in fine. We still weren't sure, but had the name Higgins picked out before we even saw pictures of him. ;) We think it fits, don't you?

We were supposed to be able to get him around Valentine's weekend of 2003, but snowstorm after snowstorm prevented that. He was being fostering in Indiana and the problem was getting him from there to St. Louis so that we pick him up. Luckily our contact's vet had to attend a conference in Indiana, so she brought him back the first week of March and we headed to St. Louis that day she was coming back.

Poor Higgins, his ears have been unique ever since we first saw him. They were taped, but it didn't help. We found out that he was very sick when they pulled him from the shelter and his foster mom stayed up 3 nights with him trying to get him to eat and drink. The only thing he would take was wheat toast sprayed with water. So, I am sure the poor nutrition in the early part of his life has to do with his ears some. And his teeth are not the greatest and that can be caused by illness in puppyhood when the permanent teeth are in the developement stage.

He was (is) such a good boy about housetraining and not chewing on inappropriate items. It was our first foray into crate training and we were quite impressed with the way it works! Above is the funniest picture of him when he was a puppy eating at home for the first time. He looks so happy and content!

Fannie took to him quite well, better than we expected, considering she was almost 9 when he came along.

We soon realized after a time that Higgins needed some obedience work (especially after Ella came along 5 months later!). So we enrolled in a Parks dept. obedience class, but that wasn't the right setting for him and it really didn't help. So we found Joan Guertin and enrolled in her Levels program with both Higgins and Ella. They loved it and we were all sad when Joan left. Higgins and Ella both passed the CGC and TDI test before Joan left.

We had talked about agility, but hadn't really looked around. Then we found Valeri at Paws Express and started classes. Higgins LOVED it. He looked so darn cute. Althought cocky was a term thrown around about him also! I will post a video of his beginning classes at the bottom of this. He has ran in two different NADAC trials. No Q's, but he was having fun. This past fall he did complete an entire Chances run, but did not touch the contact correctly. (I swear he touched the yellow, but NADAC has to be more than a glancing blow!) He was the fastest though and it was a great run, considering we had some trouble on him focusing on what we wanted, not what he did.

His confidence has blossomed, which is good and bad! :) He thinks he is the "motion" police at times, but we work on it constantly and work on focus. He does get bored easily, but it's because he is a high drive dog. Repetition he HATES, but most corgis are like that and we work thru it.

He is a Pet Therapy of the Ozarks therapy dog and just started doing regular visits at a nursing home. He has also helped in the PTO evaluations as the station "walking passed a strange dog" He has come a long way and made us love the "other" Corgi breed. He still needs to know he is safe and special, but has came so far from where we started.

Here is a video of one of his beginning classes and I will try to get another of how far he has come once classes start again.

Sorry for delays in posting

Sorry, I haven't posted for awhile. I have been busy and the ice storm limited computer time.