Hurray Christmas is over!! Now don't get me wrong, I love Christmas. I had a great time making memories with my family and friends. It is just I am ready to get back into a routine, stop cleaning my house and start eating normally again. The constant activity of the holidays make me long for boring days of taking the dogs out for play time without worrying about my to do list. The days when I can lose myself for hours brushing coats, teeth and tending to nails. OK I don't really get to do those things that often but its my green grass on the other side of the fence. A couple of days before Christmas I was called by a shelter and asked if I would take a Aussie pup in as a rescue. Of course when I saw his cute little black tri face on line I said "Of course it will be fun!". Well when the cute little pup hopped out of the truck at Petsmart he turned out to be a Border Collie pup. I asked the shelter person why she thought he was an Aussie, thinking maybe she knew some history on him. She said "Because Border Collies don't come in black tri. Jokes on her, BCs come in all the Aussies colors and more. I like Border Collies and I should be relieved since it lessens the chance I will fall head over logical heels in love with him. The down side is, as some pups do the little rascal expresses his glee any time you look at him by peeing. The kennel right now seems like it always stinks. It smells good for about 10 minutes after I clean it. I am confidant he will out grow this stage but in the meantime I try not to look him unless we are outside. He has been a wonderful playmate for the year old Icelandic pup that is currently here. The two of them are about the same size and activity level so a nice pairing for both. There seems to be much interest from people asking about adopting him. Hopefully he will find a forever home soon, immature bladder and all.

Life here at the kennels is busy. In the last two days 12 of my boarding dogs have gone home and in the next couple of days almost that many will come back in. A number of clients did Christmas away with family early this year and some clients are going to be away at Christmas. I ended up with two shifts of dogs. Which is working out well for me. More greyhounds are on the road today heading to new homes before the holidays. Unique is heading towards Billings. Her new family are so excited they sent out new arrival announcements. Pursuit is going to meet a new home in Butte they are eagerly waiting with open arms for their first greyhound. Little Flip Flop and Robin are going to meet an experinced greyhound home in Deer Lodge. One will stay and one will be just going along for the ride. Reports from SD about Rudy (was Tiny Tim) are all good...who knows maybe Rudy can help open SD to adoptions.

There is a certain amount of privacy you give up when you share your life with dogs. Little things like sharing your bed and couch are givens but even the sanctity of going to the bathroom alone is sacrificed. Sometimes I will be in my bathroom...umm...well "reading a book"....when the door will swing open and there will stand one of my dogs who comes over to say hello and then saunter out. They always seem so proud of themselves, like you had been playing Hide and Seek and they found you, winning the game. No matter how much you yell they are only interested in opening the door not closing the door behind them. The open door can lead to embarrassing moments if anyone else walks down the hall. When I actually latch the door I often hear "thud" as Dusk hits the door with his big bull head or "Tick" as Ivy pushes in her lady like way. Iris is distinguished by a loud sniffing noise to let me know she found me but she isn't going to push too hard on the door. She saves her efforts for the bedroom door which at times lays between her and her favorite bed. That door she can usually open. If it is latched she comes and finds her maid servant (me) to open it for her. As I get ready for Christmas and house guest that come with the holidays I have to keep reminding myself, "LATCH THE DOOR!"

We survived the sub zero weather and are thrilled to be reaching double digits again. The dogs are being able to come out of their owner induced hibernation and are happy to be able to run and play outside a little. Poor pups have been too confined but -20 is too cold to go out and play. On top of that I have a been a bit out of action due to a crummy cold. My interaction with the dogs were things like "please don't touch me, I hurt" and "hurry up I need to get back to bed". I'll make it up to them.

We have You Tube links so you can watch videos of the available dogs. Check them out at http://www.gparockymountain.org/Available.html

Nitro Tiny Tim is settling into his new home. He starts his new life with a new name, Rudy. His new owners at so attentive and want to do everything right. It is fun to once again get caught up in the excitement of a first time greyhound. When we got our very first greyhound years ago I remember sitting on the couch with my husband watching Noah a beautiful fawn greyhound boy. Noah was walking room to room investigating and I remember thinking he was a giant. He really wasn't that big, he moved with the grace of a greyhound and could curl up in the tiniest ball. It didn't take long to learn the biggest thing about Noah was his wonderful heart and the love he gave us. He has been gone many years now and still he colors my world. Dogs are that way...They show up, they take over and then they leave too soon.

A bit of follow up on past story lines

We hoped the Lab that Gable gave blood to would live months or even years but as it was he only lived a couple of weeks. In those weeks his family had a chance to prepare for their loss and to say their good byes. It was made possible by an unselfish gift the Henderson's and Gable gave them. Hanging on the wall at the Henderson's is a certificate proclaiming Gable as a hero.

The lost sheltie that Dusk and I tried to track had been gone three weeks and I got word he was found alive and well today. His owner got a call yesterday someone had spotted a smaller black dog in the field about 5 miles from her home. She went there to look and re posted fliers. This morning a man called and had just seen him. His owner went to the field and began walking around and calling. Then she saw his little head pop up and he ran to her awaiting arms. He is thin but unharmed.

Our trip to Seattle to compete with Aim the Golden and possibly to sneak my friend's bichon to see her at Harbor View Hospital was successful on both accounts. The drive over Friday was wet and slushy in parts. We made it to Seattle about 8 PM and thankfully had a hotel room waiting for us. The next morning we headed to the show grounds too early. I was really nervous about this show. Aim is not the most reliable dog in the ring. She can be really good in practice but tends to fall apart at a show. There is an adoptive home waiting for Aim when she wraps up her title so I wanted to get it done so she could go to her new home. The other thing that made this stressful was that I have been working on a goal for the last 17 or so years to earn an obedience title on a dog from each of the 7 AKC groups. If Aim could get this last leg she would complete her title giving me a dog from the sporting group and would in fact be the last group I needed to accomplish this life time goal. As I got out of the car at the show grounds I felt almost sick to my stomach. I scouted out the obedience building and watched the judging for a few minutes. I had more than 90 minutes before my class even started and I was far from the front of the huge class. I figured I had close to 3 hours to work up to my oncoming nervous breakdown. Poor Darrin was with me and of course I was miserable company. I paced and whined until Darrin hauled me out of there and we went to the huge swap meet that was sharing the fairgrounds. We managed to find a cheap lawn chair since I didn't pack any and then we found a nice folding wire crate that we could set up in the hotel room for the bichon. I had planned to haul her crate back and forth but having one set up for her certainly would make life easier. Well that burned up about a hour and by the time we set up Aim's crate and the chair my class was starting. We waited and waited and I paced and paced. After a small delay it was our turn FINALLY. Into the ring we went. The on lead portion felt great. Our figure 8's were smooth. The stand for Exam went perfectly. I went to line up for the off lead work and that little booger Aim took a wrong turn and headed out of the ring. This is typically an automatic disqualification. I was cursing her under my breath as I called her to me. I was reaching for my leash and telling the judge "Thank You" when he said "Wait you aren't done." I turned to him with a big question mark. He said "That was between exercises so I don't judge that and she didn't go far and came right to you." I felt like the heavens opened and the angels sang! This was a miracle!! Seriously if this happened 100 times 99 of them you would have been out of luck. But I was up for taking advantage of such a gift. I lined up and we started heeling off lead. Because my nostrils had been flaring and my eyes flashing when I sweetly called Aim back from her errant ways, Aim was trying really hard to please me. Her heeling was undoubtedly her best effort. She stuck to me like glue. Then we got ready for coming when called. She came in at a trot, sat straight and was only a little crooked on her finish. With our ring work done we were still unbelievably in the running. All that was left were the stays. Aim has always been good with her stays...but of course she had never been tested at a show. When we lined up I was smack between two HUGE dogs. On one side was a 180 pound mastiff boy the other side was an equally huge New Foundland. Aim barely came up to those dogs elbows. The 1 minute sit stay went well despite a bouncy lab who was excused before the 3 minute down stays. About a minute into the down the Newf looked at Aim and his tail started to thump thump on the floor. Then his ears went up and he sat up his tail making a happy racket on the floor. Then this huge black Newf stood up and took a step to Aim. About this time his owner broke ranks and headed over to him. Instead of quietly taking her dog out of the line up and leaving she turned her dog around and picked up her leash and number then stood there with her dog wagging his mile long tail and hip swaying a merry dance all over the place while she put the leash on him and finally led him away. By now I felt light headed because I had been holding my breath for much of the last couple of minutes. After what seemed like an eternity the judge said "back to your dogs." When all was said and done Aim earned a leg and a respectable score of 189.5. We took a major point hit when she left the ring BUT I was thrilled with my green ribbon, last leg, new title and sporting group done.

The next day although we were entered I chose not to show Aim and ended up not even attending the show. I had planned to go with a friend and watch the aussies but unfortunately she woke up sick so I went to Seattle with Darrin. While he worked I hung out and read which was actually pretty great. Monday I headed to the hospital to see my neighbor and friend who has been there the last month or so. I took her the mail and we worked on catching up on her bills and doing some necessary chores together. I knew I was wearing her out but it had to be taken care of. I had managed to keep my lips sealed about her dog being with us. We decided after Darrin was done at the office he would pick me up and then we would park and bring the dog up to her room together. I had one of those great kennel bags for the dog. I had taken the bag into the hotel the night before and put her in it for a while and marched up and down the room with her in the bag and Darrin watching to see if he could see her. I learned where to put my arm so she was less visible. Just after noon Darrin called and I went and met him. We parked and I started to get the bichon out when I discovered the dang bag was miles away in our hotel room. DANG IT!!! Without much thought I dumped the mail out of the bag it had been in and shoved the dog into the bag and zipped it mostly shut. We walked into the hospital like we belonged there. The only nervous moment was when the little pup's nose came poking up out of the zipper. She was wiggling it trying to get her head out but I crammed her back in and zipped it all the way shut while the man standing next to me was bug eyed wondering what he had just seen. I just stood there ever so calmly not getting eye contact and bolted out when the door opened to our floor. Charlyn was in bed looking sad and gray because she knew we were leaving soon and we had been her first and only visitors. I sat the bag down in the chair. While she greeted Darrin, I zipped open the bag and set her little dog on the bed beside her. Charlyn absolutely lit up. She got to hold and hug her dog for about an hour before we had to leave. It was funny to me how many people overlooked the dog entirely. The food service girl came and got the lunch tray didn't even notice the dog sitting less than six inches from the tray. Nurses came and went and unless they came to do something to Charlyn they didn't even notice. Charlyn's nurses loved seeing the dog and I think they loved seeing how happy Charlyn was. By the time we left Charlyn looked several shades rosier even if she was really tired. She told me she slept better that night than she had all the other nights. She also told me the dog was big news in the hospital. Although no one ratted us out while we were there they did discuss it after we left. Everyone seemed to agree that was some of the best medicine she had gotten since she was there. It was one of those things that they can't give you permission to do because it is a hospital but they seemed to realize the value of seeing family even if it is the four legged variety.

Most all of my days are spent with dogs...and I count myself lucky for that. Dusk and I did go out and help look for the sheltie. Dusk seemed to indicate which general direction the dog had went but of course with a trail so old and walked on he never really had a chance to find any recent scent he could follow. Still he did help eliminate some areas....like a big wood pile and a couple of culverts which the owner was fretting about. Aim the golden girl is getting ready for an obedience trial in Seattle in a little over a week. She is doing really well and I am filled with hope that she will be able to get that last leg for her title. Over the weekend the weight pull went well and me and my pack earned a couple of titles. One of my Aussie rescues who was adopted by my close friend, Sally, earned his weight pull championship. It was fun to see them accomplish this goal. I also have been working with a handful of private students and currently have a couple of dogs I am working with who are having big behavior problems. One of them is a young Vizsla whose fear has gotten away from him and he is acting aggressive on lead. I worked with him about an hour in the paddock with the greyhound girls in the adjoining paddock. At first he was hysterical at the very sight of them. Once he started to catch on to what I expected, it wasn't long until I was able to bring Tava into the paddock with him. I chose her because I knew she would stick to me like glue and I also knew she would not react to this idiot pup. The Vizsla's owner was amazed her dog was settling. Again we see another dog who was going nuts without a leader. Before he left we had worked about 90 minutes and he was loose in the paddock with all 3 of my greyhound girls. I was so proud of my girls that they helped the pup's break through moment happen. In addition to the private classes I have 5 group classes going on at my place. Honestly it has been a little crazy...but winter is coming and it will wind down.

Today was a day of high and lows. The high being getting to travel to Bozeman with a friend where she met and adopted a senior sheltie boy. It was fun to see her open her heart up to this senior dog who although he was loved no longer fit into his family. The sheltie adored the new baby BUT he became very protective and would alarm bark at every car passing the house and every noise. After 6 months of diligent work his family could not solve the problem and regretfully decided to try to find him another home. They had a long list of criteria to be met and had given up. What they didn't know was that I had spotted their ad on Craigslist and had forwarded to my friend who had been mulling it over for days. Presto...the next day Pam emailed them and after a week of emails today we headed to Bozeman to meet him. It was a bittersweet meeting. Pam was torn between feeling so sorry for his old owner and being elated to have a sheltie boy back in her life. We got home kind of late so Sam is here tonight and will start his life with his new family in the light of day.

When I got home there was two bits of sad news waiting for me. One call from a local gal in the kennel club. One of her cherished show shelties is mysteriously missing from his yard. A 2 year old black and white boy. The fences are 100% and the gates were secure. No neighborhood sightings. No body along the road. He has just vanished into thin air. With her remote location is seems unlikely that he was stolen. She had called and left a message to see if I could maybe track him. My best tracker, Dusk, just turned 12 years and with the days that have passed and lack of any sign of the lost boy it seems pretty doubtful. I will call her in the morning. The other bit of really sad news is my friend up north who is very involved with Search and Rescue lost her 15 month old up and coming search dog. This dog is the son of her current search dog. She has traveled around the world to help in searches. Western Montana is certainly safer with her and her dogs in the area. I am not clear on the details but somehow during one of her training sessions he got loose and ran into traffic. I tried all night to call her and finally had to settle on sending her a email. Hopefully she is in bed sleeping off the worst of the pain. Hug those pups and never miss a moment to fill your eyes with their beauty and your heart with their love.

We love our dogs. They become so much a part of our lives it is impossible to think of life without them. When they are sick our hearts break and when they are failing and we feel so helpless. We pray for a miracle that will bring comfort and more days with our beloved friend. The one who can bring such a gift is nothing short of a hero. This is the story of such a hero. Our very own Gable Henderson of Billings as told by his owner, Judy.

About 4:00 p.m. last Thursday we got a call from our vet that they had a lab that was in need of blood. Gable is an emergency blood donor. Within 15 minutes I had Gable down there,I was told that the lab has a mass in it's stomach. About 7:00 p.m. the vet called and said she would keep Gable the night that he was very sleepy, they have to sedate the donor dog to keep them quiet and calm so that no problems develop with the donor dogs. Friday morning the vet called for us to pick up Gable. He did not like their cuisine so when we got him home we fed him. With extra yummy steak in his kibble, he licked his bowl clean. No problems at all with him otherwise after the donation. Vets office called me yesterday and told me that the lab went home with his family which is extremely good news. Now the lab needs one more miracle and that is that the mass is not cancer, he has a one in three chance. Lets all pray and keep positive thoughts for him, The lab is 11 years old and it would be nice for him to have more days of old age.

love
All the Henderson's