Merry Christmas

A few photos from the last week...

And starting to figure out how the leg-things work.  ;-)

Happy New Year!!

12 Days Old!

I planned to write a post for the pups being one week old, but wow, things have been a bit busy. ;-)  They are now 12 days old!

They are surprisingly talkative and mobile.  Several started wagging their tails while nursing and a few are trying to walk.

We have hints that their eyes and ears will be opening soon, if not a tiny bit already.

Noodle has been a great mom, making sure they have plenty to eat and are safe and warm.

As such, she is a bottom-less pit when it comes to food and is eating more than double her normal ration.  This will certainly go up as the puppies grow bigger.

We started out by weighing the puppies twice each day but are down to once each day.  Of course I'm charting their growth.  ;-)  They were born between 1 and 1.5 pounds and are now each between 3 and 3.5 pounds.

Hubba has been a great Stay-at-Home-Dad... making sure Noodle has plenty to eat and that the smaller puppies are getting their share of milk.

We have a few reservations available, so if you have the need for puppy-breath, please let me know.   They will be ready to go to their new homes around Valentine's Day.

We have six females and three males, all gold.

The Morning After

Introducing: The Premier Colorado Tibetan Mastiff Litter!

Together with Gunnar (CH Timberline's Colorado Gunnison) and Noodle (KayaKyi Bala) we are proud to introduce our Premier Litter of Tibetan Mastiffs.

Pre-labor was in progress when I got home from the DayJob yesterday.  So I spent the evening rubbing Noodle's belly helping her relax with what was going on.  She started taking me for walks around the property at 10:30 pm and the first puppy was born just after 1 am.  The ninth puppy came a little after 3 pm.

Everyone is happy, healthy, well and tired.

6 girls, 3 boys.

Our first litter.

Tibetan Mastiff Info, 2015 Calendar

A few months ago, I entered a photo contest.

I learned that one of my photos had been selected a couple of months ago and yesterday our calendars arrived.

Gunnar and Miles are featured in April.  :-)

This calendar is a fundraiser for TibetanMastiffInfo.com which is a tremendous resource for TM Fanciers of all types.  Specifically ancestry on any litters, planned breeding or dogs is available for a free membership... an invaluable resource, in my opinion.

Please consider supporting this great organization.

Thanks!

Ready(?) for Puppies

Noodle is due next week.

Her radiographs and health checkup went well last weekend. 

She is happy, healthy and getting bigger every day.

Her Whelping Box is ready.

A carpenter we know built it for us one afternoon, using roughly these plans.  She seems to like it, and has started to go in it on her own.

There are two or three little things we'd like to do still, but in reality (I think) we are ready for the puppies to make their arrival.

There are a few reservations available, if you find that you need a Tibetan Mastiff in your life. ;-)

Dog Show: Buckhorn Valley Kennel Club, 2014

It's been an exciting couple of months for the Big Man.... he opened a bank account (if you know what I mean), is expecting puppies, we qualified for the National Owner-Handler Series Finals at the AKC National Championship in Orlando in December.... and the Gunnar-man finished his AKC Championship at the end of October.

We have not yet received the official paperwork, but the CH is reflected on the AKC site as of last week.  So, please say Hello to Champion Timberline's Colorado Gunnison!

Of course, Gunnar's favorite part of the Buckhorn Valley Kennel Club show was seeing his breeder and brother, Timberline's Ferdinand...

... and of course soliciting belly rubs from his fans.  ;-)

Time Flies

So it's been a month since I posted last.

It's also been about that long since I've had yarn and needles in my hands.  Even longer since I've made a FAF post.

Gunnar finished his AKC Championship at the end of October and had a photo shoot with a professional photographer.  I have a nearly completed posts about both... maybe I'll get them up in a few days.  ;-)

I put up a huge amount of apples.  I have a bunch of photos but haven't even started to draft a post about that.

One of my photos was selected for the Tibetan Mastiff Info Calendar.

My new Day Job is going well.

Noodle had a vet check up today.  She is absolutely pregnant with "more than a few" puppies.  We will have radiographs in a couple of weeks to confirm how many.  In the meantime here's a photo from today's ultrasound.  :-)

Litter Announcement: Noodle + Gunnar

This time we are really doing it!  Noodle and Gunnar have been shacking up, if you know what I mean.  ;-)

We are expecting our first litter of Tibetan Mastiff puppies.  They should be arriving in mid-December.

If you are a regular reader here, you know that Noodle is one of our first girls, is a great protector of our alpacas and a very funny, very important member of our family.

Gunnar is the star, show dog, livestock guardian and my big boy.

Tibetan Mastiffs are working dogs that do best by also having a lot of family interaction.  These are extremely intelligent, social and athletic dogs that have added an immeasurable joy to our lives.

The formal announcement is below.  Please wish us luck and of course, if you're interested in taking one of these incredible pups home, please let me know.  :-)

Dam:

KayaKyi Bala (Noodle)

DOB: 12/22/2010

PennHIP: 0.41, 0.41 (70^th Percentile)

Elbows: Normal

Thyroid: Normal

Her Parents: CH Ayyangadoo Guyuk Khan (Bentley) x Kesang Camp’s China Doll (China)

Noodle is a big girl that carries herself very tall.  She is extremely athletic and an enthusiastic guardian of our alpacas. She is friendly off property, willing make friends with the dogs and people she meets.  However, when she’s working, she is working.

Sire:

Timberline’s Colorado Gunnison (Gunnar)

DOB :: 02/12/2013

OFA: Good, PennHIP: 0.44, 0.43 (60^th Percentile)

Elbows: Normal

Thyroid: Normal

His Parents: CH Timberline Barni Drakyi (Barnes)  x CH Timberline’s Calamity Jane (Janey)

Gunnar is a very social and large-boned boy.  His red-gold coat and ever-present smile make quite an impression.  He loves to meet people and other dogs.  He is a natural guardian of our alpacas with an easy-going attitude.  With limited showing, he is just 2-points shy of his AKC Conformation Championship, having won Best of Breed over the current #1 Tibetan Mastiff at 12 months of age.

Both Noodle and Gunnar are an important part of our family.

Litter:

We expect this pairing to provide good-sized puppies with the confidence and aptitude for family and livestock protection.  As such, the puppies will be started with alpacas and socialized with people.

All puppies will be AKC registered with the prefix, Colorado.

Deposits are now being accepted as the litter is expected to be born in mid-December 2014.

Litter's Pedigree

COI = 8.9%

Both parents reside at our home.  We are happy to answer questions about the puppies and parents.

alpacamundo (at) g mail (dot) com

Putting Up Pears

My neighbor's pear tree was prolific this year.

She offered me some a couple of weeks ago.  To which, I excitedly accepted, thinking there might be enough for a small batch of butter.  But by the end of the afternoon, she and the kids had picked 6 grocery sacks and brought them over.

I'm really glad that we kept our peach boxes, as they were just enough to hold the bounty of pears.

I hadn't put up pears before, but they need to be picked while still firm and then allowed to ripen on the counter.  So these guys rested on the kitchen counter for a week.

I processed about 1/3 of them last weekend, as the remainder were still too hard to do anything with.

But after another week on the counter, most had crossed over to too ripe.  :-(

These pears were pretty small, so the yield was also quite small for the amount of work involved.  However, I did make one small batch each of butter and jam.  They are delicious.

I'll be getting started on our apples later today.  What a wonderful harvest season we're having this year.  :-)

Fiber Arts Friday: Skirt Guard

Sometimes you come across something that you know someone needs.  It's so appropriate that they don't even know they need it.

This is one of those things and I thought immediately of my SIL. (Yes, she is knit-worthy... or in this case, crochet-worthy)  :-)

While I can execute crochet stitches reasonably well, I have been having trouble reading the pattern... so my summer of rip-it-out-so-I-can-restart-itis continues.  :-P

It's been ripped out 3 times... The last one looked like this...

... pretty, but not the correct pattern.

I'm almost afraid to say it, since I've said it at least once already.. but, I think I'm on my way now...

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Socks for Me

After finishing my Replacement Hat in early July, I only had my Palindrome Scarf and Alpaca Cape left on the needles.  Both are big and warm.  So with it being July... a mild one, but still it was July, I wanted to work on something smaller.

I had 3 false starts with the last pair of socks I tried to make for myself, so I decided to go with Sock it to Me.  It's a simple, toe-up pattern.  I have successfully made it twice for Hubba and I have two skeins of a Bamboo+Merino+Silk yarn.

I figured this is exactly what I needed.

9 sts per inch is way too big

Insert expletive here!

I had already ripped them out twice before the above photo was taken. First for not following directions and second for gauge.  Both times I re-checked my gauge and measurements, but when I knit Hubba's version I used 8 sts per inch instead of the nearly 9 sts I am getting.

So I ripped them out a third time... knitting the same gauge, but using 8 sts per inch for the math.  It's still not correct.  :-/

8 sts per inch is still too big

I don't know what I'm going to do.... other than rip it out a fourth time.  :-(

I'm not crazy about the camo effect either, but I like working with the yarn.  I think they would be comfortable socks to wear and I really want a pair of my own hand-knit socks... but *#^%!, this was supposed to be relaxing.... and done by now.  :-P

Make sue to check in with everyone over at Wisdom Begins in Wonder for Fiber Arts Friday, even though it's Saturday.

Growing Cotton

It started as a tip for shearing.

They had to live on my kitchen counter for a while because it snowed.

I planted the one tiny thing that survived the kitchen in an old whiskey barrel,

It grew

and grew.

Then it flowered.

The flowers were yellow one day and pink the next.

Each flower lasted only two days. 

The flowers turned to bolls.

The bolls grew

and grew.

I sure wish I could see what's going on inside those bolls.

We had our first frost last week, but have mild weather for the near-term forecast.  I sure hope this plant does what it needs to do before the snow and freezing temperatures come.

Dog Show: Evergreen Kennel Club, 2014

Last weekend was the Evergreen Kennel Club Dog Show.

With starting my new Day Job, I hadn't planned on entering this show.  I felt like I needed to do less for a little while.  However, Gunnar did not finish his Championship at the Greeley Show so I decided the two of us should enter.

Then a few days before this show, I found out that I had Gunnar in the wrong age class in Greeley... by 4 days.  So his points did not count.  ugh.  I also learned that I had him entered in the wrong age class for Evergreen too.  Panic ensued.  As soon as I set up, I found the superintendent, filled out some paperwork and got him moved to the correct age class.  whew.

We enjoyed this show a lot.  First, it was just me and Gunnar... so I didn't have to worry about getting two dogs ready for the same ring time.  Second, it's a much smaller show than Greeley... but to be fair, Greeley is a very big show, so most other shows are smaller.  ;-)  The grooming area was more quiet and Gunnar still got to see several of his friends and make a few new ones... which really is his favorite part.  :-)

He won Winner's Dog (WD) and Best of Winners (BOW) both days for a total of 2 points. He now has 2 points to go.

Our next show is toward the end of October.