june 3 2016

gretchens staples are out-- megan and grace did the honors... MAE  AND   DAISY ARE COMING HERE BY SUNDAY who would have thunk it. !! WHO??? 2 more donkeys  are coming from janine's.... already been thru quarentine--- which i don't understand because she has 2 more  horses in quarentine there... but who am i????? one is a mini and the other a standard ( half way between maude and a mini) ..  so we will have the 3 sizes --  the rest of the story is..... the standard is pregnant...probably... let me be the first to suggest   that we are then maxed out.... and should concentrate on the ones we have to be useful in some way.  plan is for janine to get lincoln to her house and dragon may go to someone  who  would buy him.. janine  would then have a tiny black stallion-- mini version of lincoln  and whatever she  is quarentening... ***** there is a delightful video of pockets rolling in the new sawdust in her stall..- all those donkeys will fit in that one stall--...probably.... donkeys are usually very agreeable-- as  apposed to horses- 2 horses in one stall usually kick at each other for one to become dominant-- donkeys are more   the "don't make a wave" mentality. ***** almosts don't count- yesterday i did not hear megan say she was letting walter out to run-- and i let bentley out with me... luckily i saw those black ears on white dog and grabbed bentley up onto  the golf cart before walter saw him - in the process bentley got wedged between the steering wheel and me---165 pounds-- i could not breathe for a minute there. overlapping things are a problem...as just happened---an intern who stayed overnight was out in the back hall saying off  off off  off for more times than i could stand to listen to....  if a dog does not do what you say the first -- or second time then they are ignoring you and repeating is not going to help... you need to say  "wait a minute -- i am talking to you."   i needed to  straighten out that pup and give the intern a training  lesson ...so  before i finished the Daily doggie.. i needed to go out there before i left my desk i needed to get my coffee out of reach of pups before i could put my coffee up high  on the mantle piece i had to clear a space before i dould deal with the off off off problem i had to get rid of the extra dogs so teh lesson would stick. before i could put them in the sun room i neede to jiggle the door which gets stuck so they can open it before i could deal with the pups, i needed somethign to scare them--like an empty water bottle  by the time i did all that    i forgot why i had the bottle in my hand , and the dogs were napping. there is alot of that going on around here...  nothing is simple anymore. but we are doing great things... sometimes it is hard to remember that. that is why it is necessary for recipients to send me an email  often... we have been thru a  lot preparing these dogs for service. ************** on camera today might  be the heavy equipment coming to straighten out the parking areas..   he had said friday or monday... plan now is to be able to come up driveway 37 and go into parking by flat field drive a circle and go back out #37 there is a "chute"  connecting  that to the area behind the arena #45-- and it will be possible to  come in 45 and turn around and go out the same driveway...  but it all needs flattening.. and i want to dress it up a bit with grass.. and plantings.  grace is  on deck for that... in case you are inspired.....there is some tree trimming that needs to happen.. with that long pole saw--  thin dead pine limbs-- it would look so much better  ********** i hear jeff ( of chicken coop carpenter fame)  has "blown a knee"  so we may move his work of art to a better location--  in the process he bought some 2x2 lumber  - for those of you new to the game a   2x2 is planed smooth and becomes  1.5 x 1.5 --( just as the generic  2 x 4  is 1.5 x 3.5)-- well i  am going to steal those  2x2's and try putting together that starplate  structure...- hopefully you will see me playing with lumber beside puppy hill.. i am not sure what i will do with it... but...i need a project like that ******* i include this notice  for amusement only...i can not take this kind of thing seriously... MERLE VOTE PASSED!! May 6, 2016 From the Standard Committee The results are in! Yes: 273, No: 87, Abstain: 3 The members have overwhelmingly voted to have the Standards Committee begin to create a written description for the Merle color. It must be worded correctly, precise and defined with depth for the potential addition of the Merle to allowable colors. This will not be an easy or fast process. We as a committee must research, define and submit, revise and wait for the voice of the membership to speak. The final product, if approved, not only encompasses the AKC Standard, but also our Illustrated Standard, which will be paramount. There are several other revisions to the standard under consideration as well. Once approved by the committee and the GDCA Board, any proposed changes will only occur when the membership votes in the affirmative majority on the changes that are finalized and approved. This will be accomplished by a line by line vote of the membership on each change. We certainly have our work cut out for us and would ask patience of the membership during this process. We are working for you! Sharon Chairperson GDCA Standards Committee