Puppies for Christmas

Christmas time is always busy around here. With all our dogs, the new puppies, and still our foster dog Tasha things can get a little hectic. That being said I love Christmas and I figured I would take the opportunity to photograph our newest additions under the Christmas tree. They were not so thrilled at first about being in a strange new place but soon nestled into the presents and went to sleep. Cali on the other hand has spend the last 14 days since we put the tree up hiding all of her "prizes" in various places underneath it. She is such a little livewire and I have to admit I am more than a little nervous about what we are going to find under there when we take it down. As always the JRTs are a constant source or amusement, frustration, and joy. An interesting combination you may think but once you own one you understand.

10 Days Young

The puppies are growing well. One little girl was born with Atresia Ani and a fistula but with the help of many vets she is so far doing alright. Our regular vet, Theresa Chu, has been amazing through this whole process quite literally holding my hand the night I found the problem (at 3 days old) and I rushed over to the college after hours right up to today coming in on her day off to look at an eye infection. The vets at the WCVM have been equally as amazing and will hopefully be able to correct both issues with a couple of surgeries. We have to wait until she is a little older and stronger to do much for her but she has such a will to live it would be impossible for me not to try. She is just the sweetest little girl and even though she is just half the size of her littermates she is tough and rarely gets pushed off a nipple. I am giving her a little beef liver broth a few times a day and that really seems to help her keep her strength up, especially those first few days. We have named her Mazel Tov, which is "Good Luck" in Hebrew as I think she is going to need it.

The other three are doing very well, just stunning puppies really, with outstanding bone and heads like I have never seen on 10 day old puppies. They are already weighing in around 1.5lbs and round little balls of fur. This is always the stage where I try and justify to myself keeping all of them but I know that the homes we have lined up are going to adore them as much as I do so that makes it a little easier. Sadie herself is doing fantastic, eating like a small horse and taking breaks from the little ones to come and hang out with me every now and then. She would prefer I spend all my time in the office, where her whelping box is, and will stand at the top of the stairs barking at me until she eventually comes down and sits on my lap for a bit. I don't think I will ever get bored of Jack Russell antics, they have so much personality!

Sadie x Jock Puppies

We have been waiting for Sadie to whelp this litter all week and they were definitely worth the wait. I am wanting to keep a female from this litter so as luck would have it I now have four to choose from! My good friend Karen braved the cold and drove 25 min into town to help me whelp this litter and for that I am eternally grateful! I only have one good hand at the moment (broke the other one in a horse related incident) and as anyone who has ever tried to whelp puppies knows it is a two handed job. Karen was also here during the birth of our previous litter lending her veterinary expertise and guiding me through the sometimes scary process.

I had commented to Karen earlier that this might be a very colourful litter so when the first puppy was born with a half-mask and an ear spot she remarked that she was still waiting for her "holstein". Well she wouldn't have to wait long as the next two puppies were covered in body spots! The Tan and white girl came second, then the Tri girl, and thank goodness the last puppy was a little more tame as I think we were both still reeling from all that color. All in all this is a nice looking litter and I am looking forward to watching them grow, although I don't know how i am ever going to pick just one to keep they are all so cute!

They are not JRTs but they sure are cute

Sometimes when we don't have a JRT litter in our house we foster dogs for New Hope dog rescue. I firmly believe that we as breeders need to recognize that no matter how responsible our own breeding programs are we still contribute to the pet overpopulation problem. No matter the reason, or noble the goal, we a producing puppies in a market that is saturated with displaced and homeless dogs. Although our programs are necessary to preserve and improve our respective breeds, and we place puppies with great care, I believe we should acknowledge some accountability for the countless dogs out there that came from less responsible breeders.

When a message arrived in my inbox one night about a new mother and her 2 day old puppies freezing in the damp, cold, Saskatchewan fall weather I couldn't help but volunteer to bring her to our house. Even though we have a JRT litter on the way we are completely set up to handle whelping, early litter care, and young puppies and she had no where to go. After confirming that she had no communicable diseases, so as not to put any of our dogs at risk, she came to Inseguire with her 6 four day old puppies. Well what an experience it has been! We named the momma Tasha and she has gone from a completely feral dog to one that wags her tail whenever we look at her and gingerly comes over to where you are and sits waiting for a pat. This type of transformation is not entirely new to us, we have fostered may homeless and unwanted dogs, what has been the real new experience has been the 6, medium sized, extraordinarily busy collie x puppies. These little guys at 5 weeks are half the size of my 12" JRT and twice as busy. They love being with people and will cry in protest until you bring them out of thier pen. They can already crawl into the toy box and pull out every, and I mean every, toy in there. But despite all the mayhem they cause they are extraordinary sweet and look for hands, feet, laps, anything that smells like people, when it is time to sleep.

They have been fantastic playmates for Cali and with 6 of them the odds are pretty even. Cali will run around chasing one, another will pursue ad grab her tail or leg and when she turns wound to see the original puppy pounces. She thinks this is just about the greatest game ever and will roll onto he back or even crawl across the floor to entice them to play. All of this is much to my relief as she had never experienced young puppies before and I was hoping she would enjoy the JRT puppies we are expecting. All in all these little guys have been a wonderful experience and even though they bring the number of dogs into our house to 10 we are enjoying every one of these precious few moments of puppyhood we have with them.

Catching Up

As things get more and more interesting around here I thought a blog would be a great place to keep everyone apprised of the more personal and in depth happenings at Inseguire than our website does. 2009 has been a pretty exciting year for us, we attended our fist JRTCA shows in 5 years and did quite well. In a very limited number of outings Sadie was Best Open Bitch 1x, Reserve Best Open Terrier 1x, Best Brood Bitch and Produce 3x, and Reserve Family Champion 2x. King did not disappoint winning his puppy class every time in the ring and was Dog Puppy Champion 1x, and Reserve Dog Puppy Champion 1x. Cali was the big hit of the summer though, Reserve Bitch Puppy Champion 3x, Reserve Puppy Champion 1x, and always in the top 3 bitch puppies every time in the ring.

This year also saw both Sadie and Cali make thier flyball debuts. Sadie earned her FDCh-G in only four tournaments, and by the end of the season was running 4.8s. She was pulled from the lanes early in October though as she came into heat and was sent to see Gaye Redpath and Conquest Jock in Ontario. These things usually happen at the most inopportune times and this was no different. We had entered a team of 4, the bear minimum you can run in flyball, including Sadie and were now coming up short to a tournament. After much debate we decided to put Cali in her mother's spot even though she was not quite ready to run. Never having passed before, and no box turn to speak of, this young lady was rock solid and earned both her FD and FDX and running 5.3s. Hopefully a winter of work on that all important box turn will have her shaving a fair bit of time off this posting.

Although our conformation and performance seasons have come to an end 2009 is far from over for us. As I mention before Sadie is expected to be whelping a litter, some time around the 6th of December, and JRT puppies are always a lot of fun at every stage. We will keep everyone apprised of the happenings and keep you fingers crossed that they ultrasound booked for November 7th shows a nice litter of healthy puppies!

Summer Celebration I & II

08.18.2009 - Inseguire had a strong showing at Summer Celebration I & II in Harding Illinois. It was a long drive down but we decided to make the trip partially to get one more show in for the puppies before they turn a year and partially to see Shirley Buist of Cairnbrae Terriers, who provided me with Sadie, my first 'show', terrier 6 years ago. I haven't seen Shirley in a long time and was excited to hear that she was judging the second day of this trail.

Jeremy came with me and we made a good and proper road trip out of the over 21 hours of driving. This trip provided to be well worth all the extra effort in getting there. The Mid-West JRT Club put on a great trial with everything from the typical JRT events to trailing and locating, agility, and lure coursing just to name a few. All these events attracted a lot of dogs (over 200) and some of the top kennels in Canada and the US. I have to admit I was a little nervous when I saw some of the kennel names set up around the conformation ring. Class sizes were large and deep but my nervousness proved unfounded as all our terriers showed well and still brought home plenty of ribbons.

On day one, under Joan Crouse, King won his class (9-12 mo Smooth Dog Puppies) and Cali came in second to the eventual Puppy Champion in the 9-12 mo Rough/Broken Bitch Puppies. She was also one of the last 3 dogs in the ring for Bitch Puppy Champion but finally ended up placing behind two very nice dogs. Sadie too did not disappoint and placed 2nd in her class (12.5-15 Rough/Broken Open Bitches) against some very tough competition. She was also awarded Best Brood Bitch and Produce. With all the performance events being offered and the dogs not the least bit tired we took in some activities other than the usual go-to-ground. The Barn hunt was a big success with King placing 2nd and Cali 3rd. Sadie was also 3rd of the adults, but where she really shone was at trailing and locating. She worked in a fast enough time to earn her 5th (of 40 or so dogs) but what set her apart was the way she worked, in constant communication with her handler , and the judge commented on this. Not to be outdone by her mother Cali also worked very well (all off lead) and won the puppy class along with the admiration of the judge who commented that "she has all the making of a really great hunting partner, take good care of that one".

Day two was just as successful as day one and even though we got rained out of many events,and had to move conformation inside the dogs did great in everything they participated in. Barn Hunt and Brush Hunt saw high placing on all three dogs and the ball toss was a cinch for the girls, Cali winning puppy and Sadie taking second in Adult. The highlight of the day was conformation though. Sadie had to watch from the sidelines as Shirley Buist, her breeder, was judging but she has the best seat in the house to watch her son King win his class and her daughter Cali win Reserve Bitch Puppy Champion! A great trial all in all, new friends made, old friends reconnected with, and 3 tired dogs on the trip home. This is how we judge success.

Mid America Working Terrier Trial

06.30.2009 - Inseguire attended our first trial in almost 5 years, the MAWTA trial in Norfolk NE. We had an amazing time, met some new friends, and brought home plenty of 'loot'. Our Terriers showed very well with Cairnbrae Inspiration taking home Open Bitch Champion, Reserve Open Terrier Champion, Best Brood Bitch and Produce, and Reserve Family Champion on the first day. She was also awarded Best Brood Bitch and Produce and Reserve Family Champion on the second day. Littermates Inseguire Calliope and Inseguire King's Ransom were equally impressive. 'King' was awarded Puppy Dog Champion on the first day and Reserve Puppy Dog Champion on the second day. 'Cali' won Reserve Puppy Bitch Champion and Reserve Puppy Champion on the first day and Reserve Puppy Bitch Champion on the second day.

We also had the opportunity to go hunting with Stephanie Poppe and Candy Butterfield, two amazing women with a great sense of humor. Although we never did find anything other than skunk we had a blast looking. Sadie checked every hole and even Cali entered and looked around. It never ceases to amaze me the instincts of these little dogs, see hole = stick head in. It was a great outing all in all, well worth the 16 hour drive down. Also a big thank you to Patti Podliska of Hidden Acres Jack Russells for organizing the hunting trips, introducing me to some new friends, and generally welcoming us, dogs included, with open arms. Thank you Patti you are the reason this trip was so much fun.