Fly Away Jack

Jack left today with his new buddy Alex who was accompanied by his mom Becky and Aunt Ruth.  Jack was on his best behavior, except when he got a bath which Alex got to do with Drew.  After that he showed how quickly he can fall asleep and be the perfect little angel. They didn't know that he had been running with Pixie outside, wrestling with her inside and running like a madman through the house for an hour before they got here :-)  Anyway, the bath was a perfect opportunity to show how though they can be sweet and accepting, it takes work and patience to get them that way.  They have to learn that sometimes things just have to be done and that they can have positive side effects like treats and cuddling but sometimes you just have to take it and move on. Alex is just the young man for the job.

Introducing Ash, formerly Jack, with his new best friend Alex.

I have loved almost every minute of getting these boys started.  Who can enjoy a 430 am wake up call?  I look forward to many wonderful updates over the years to come.  Kelsey has already sent an update on Quixx (FKA Nimble-green).  The transition to their home has gone very smoothly and he is settling in beautifully.  There is a little controversy on who his favorite family member is right now but I'm sure they will all feel like they have a special place with him.

I must again thank Debbie, Kevin and Alycia for allowing McCoy to be the Baby Daddy.  These have been a wonderful bunch to raise.  I can't wait to see how their little futures pan out.  I have a special shout out to my weekly weighing partner Terri.  She has been a great addition to my puppy raising plan.

This is my last post about the McPixies.  I hear Ash will have his own blog so I will link to that when it is available.  The new background is called Aloha which I think is appropriate.  Aloha McPixies.  Otherwise, until next time.....Give your own pups a hug and see you McLater! 

Jack's Last Night

Even though Henry has played with the pups all of the time this is one of the only pics I've been able to take.  They were watching a football game.  Apparently it wasn't that exciting.

Jack had some kind of last day.  Some play.  Some crate time.  Some xpen time.  Some outdoor time.  Some sleep time.  Some lap time.  Some wrestle time.  Inbetween and during all of that he barked, bit, jumped, ate, dug, climbed, screeched, and snored.  What a fun little pup.  So essentially today was the first day of being on the road to being a good big boy.  Lots of lessons learned, lots of fun to be had.  Jack leaves tomorrow.  Even with Pixie here our house will be too quiet.  But Roady will be happy once again that everything is back to normal with no rotten pups around :-)

One Is The Loneliest Number

Today was go home day for two of the pups leaving poor Jack/Ash on his own until Tuesday

Goodbye Kisses

Quick (blue) is ready.

So is Nimble (green)

Introducing Patrick and Kelsey Esber and Windrunner's Over the Candlestixx - Quixx formerly Nimble (green)

Introducing Susan Brownfield and Windrunner's Old King Cole - King formerly Quick (blue)

 Jack found someone else to play with him. 

What's next?

He can't drown his sorrows

Jack (orange) can entertain himself.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Windrunner Vizslas!

'Twas the Day/Night Before Christmas

The boys are growing by leaps and bounds.  I can't believe how big they are.  Pixie is so going to miss them.  She plays with them constantly.  She still pinpoints Quick (blue) more than the other two.  Kind of funny.  He has been the not so obvious boss of the little McPack.  Today they had lots of play sessions and met my cousin, Lane's border collie Roni.  Roni was a little overwhelmed when she first got pounced on by three little hooligans but she was wonderful especially when they were one-on-one.  Lane is getting her own BC puppy in a few weeks so chaos is going to reign soon with Roni.  I have been very fortunate to have been able to expose the pups to multiple adult dogs who are great with puppies so they learn nice lessons about respecting big dogs.

Was it my breath?

Jack (orange) gets some snuggle time.

One of these things is not like the others.

Cole really likes the pups.

 The boys are figuring out car riding.  Tonight they were put into their crate and all settled in to lie down without bum rushing the door to get right out.  They are now sleeping in individual crates in separate rooms.   My sister takes one, Drew has another and I have the third. 

Pixie loves playing with her boys

One more day until Nimble and Quick go to their new homes.  Too much to do and not enough time. 
Pixie wont be the only one to miss theses babies.  I was whistling a different tune earlier today when 5 sets of muddy paws were coming into the house. 

Leashes, Bujas and Tunnels

Today the boys got to go to my agility building and work on walking on a leash.  No pictures because I was by myself but let me just say they were stellar pups!  They walk into every place like they own it.  Such brave boys.  The leash work was easy.  They learned quickly that treats come when you are close to me.  They also did minimal chewing on the leash.  I foresee 3 Best In Class puppies in their puppy classes.

The Buja board is just a continuation of the tippy board.  They were happy to make it move and were each starting to figure out that I was shaping them to make it move.  I somehow managed to get them each through a full-sized tunnel on my own. And as usual they had no problems going through it.  I just can't find much that fazes the McTrio. 

We ended out the afternoon with a play date at mom's house.  Lots of fun to be had except when they tried to run for the hills when I was getting them back in the car.  Bad Boys!

9 Weeks Old

They celebrated the end of Week 9 with a visit to my veterinarian, Dr. Joanne Buehner.  They enjoyed most of the visit - a car ride, cookies, lovin', and people telling them how wonderful they are.  Not so enjoyable were the shots and microchipping but they survived.  They have been playing with my niece and nephew, going for car rides, sleeping in the crate at night and in general having a  good time.  They have mastered several kinds of stairs - Well Nimble still hesitates at the open backed wooden stairs but he runs and jumps on every other kind.  I've tried doing some clicker introduction.  They are catching on.  Today we went for a big run since it was a little warmer this morning - all of 30 degrees. BTW, I can't seem to remember to bring my camera anywhere!

Saturday Visit

No pictures today but the boys went to mom's house today while I went to Drew's wrestling tournament.  They played with Uncle Rocket and Gr Grandma Sunny.  Apparently at one point Quick was being fresh and got a little lesson in just how he should behave with his elders. It is nice to have dogs around who can teach these lessons nicely but firmly.  They also had more fun with greenery, a giant Amazon's cast offs and meeting with my nephew and niece who just arrived from LA.

Henry and I were laughing last night about how cute and gentle Pixie is with the babies - wanting to play with them and egging them on to roughhouse with her.  She also balances that well with a firm paw when they get too out of line. 

I may have pics tomorrow but I work a 12 tonight and tomorrow so no promises.  Best to check back Monday evening.  Have a great weekend!

Thank Goodness They Were Too Young To Help

Laundry basket play

Little innocent

Sacked out with no shame (or maybe he is proud)

Today was a car day.  It ended up actually being almost a full day activity vs a couple of hours.  Thank you BMV.  I suppose I should take some of the blame since I am the one who let my license expire.  But my one trip turned into three including a trip to the Social Security Admin.  The plan was to run a few car errands so they could spend about an hour stopping and going with Gr. Uncle Roady in the front seat guarding the car so I could leave it running due to the cold.  BTW, he did his part well.  It turned into a 4+ hour lesson on the nature of car riding (in a crate of course).  They were EXCELLENT!  There wasn't even any screaming at the very start of our trip.  They only squeaked after the 2.5 hour mark was hit but we were finally on our way to the park by then.  So now I have a new license and a new SS card on the way (I lost my license and debit card in Cleveland yesterday :-()  

On to the fun part.  We went for a run in the woods.  They are fast!  I ran away from them keep them from tripping me and to keep them running and warm, and they almost were able to keep up. At the start of our woods walk I saw that a baby raccoon had been treed in a sapling.  The big dogs were chasing a squirrel so it was safe for now and we started our walk. 
 

Raccoon baby

 Unfortunately the raccoon had decided to come down from the tree.  That was not a wise decision.  Roady had plans for it.  The puppies saw what was going on so they have been indoctrinated into the thinning of the local wildlife.  I managed to keep them away from actually getting to Roady and our romp in the woods ended

Time for our next stop - Wally world  They were wonderful little troopers.  I think they are well on their way to being excellent travelers.

Getting You Up To Speed - 8 Week Old Pupdate!

Mea culpa for not posting for the last few days.  Work, sleep and puppies have taken up my computer time!  Imagine that?  Tuesday the boys turned 8 weeks old!  The time is flying by too fast for me.  They are staying until right after Christmas but that is making me sad - at least for now.

Soooooooo!  What have they been up to?  Monday we did a temperament test based on Sheila Booth's Positive Puppy Preview.  Thank you Lianne for being the tester.  This was her first one and she did a fine job!  For those not familiar with temp testing, it is a series of activities to do with a puppy to "test" what it's personality is like.  If you are getting a puppy from a breeder who doesn't spend a lot of time with the puppies (and who would get a puppy from someone like that?) then a temp test is a good tool for giving you an idea of what the puppy might be like.  For me I like to use the temp test as a tool to give a better idea of what the puppy might need to work on in its new home.  I do think that a few parts of the test hold true to the puppy - sounds sensitivity and touch sensitivity.  I have tested many puppies in several breeds and these seem to be the most consistent behaviors throughout the puppy's life.


The boys were solid and pretty even in their testing as I expected.  What they didn't show was their prey drive which is pretty decent generally.  So, if I were the tester of this litter then I would advise pretty much ignoring the puppies' prey drive for this testing except to keep in mind that they like most vizslas can be easily distracted. They were very motivated by interaction with people - both with Lianne and at the end when they had to figure out how to come find me.  No one was sound sensitive and Quick was the least reactive to touch.  The video of the tests are at the You Tube link to the right.  You'll hear the others screaming in the background but it was too cold to put puppies not being tested outside but I don't think they were too distracted by the noise.  They hear it all of the time!

Terri and her Granddaughter came over on Tues to help weigh them and have a visit.

Also on Tuesday Caren came over to give me her opinion of the boys for a structure evaluation.   They weren't very cooperative for stacking so that I could get pictures at the time.  I just took some later.  They do have minds of their own but at least they are very sweet when the want things their way - sometimes.

Nimble (green) just wanted a kiss

Quick (blue) looks very stoic here.

Jack (orange) is looking for an escape route.

Nimble (green)

Quick (blue)

Jack (orange)

Random 8 Week Old Pictures