Leigh's Family Blog

Giant Schnauzers

2010-03-30T22:45:00.000-07:00

I have posted photos of my 2 Giant Schnauzers who excelled at the dog shows in Johannesburg a couple of weekends ago (apologies to those who read the same info on my quilting blog). My little Giant, Shyloh, (a contradiction in terms) collected her last point she needed to earn the title "Breed Champion". She was also Reserve Best of Breed on both days. Her litter brother won Best of Breed both days - we kept it in the family - :LOL. My "big" Giant Schnauzer, Alex, excelled in her Obedience tests winning her Beginner's Obedience class with 98%. She then went into the Novice class ( a test twice as long and twice as difficult) and failed to qualify by 2.5% without any advanced training. I am really proud of both my Schnauzers......

This photo is of Alex at the local farmer's market in her carting harness. I took her, just for fun, to the market that morning. She loved pulling her cart around - I could have earned a fortune if I charged all the people who took photos of her pulling the cart. People were absolutely amazed that a dog can pull a cart. What they don't realise is that she is a working dog, she loves to work.....

This is Shyloh, the little Giant - she was being shown by her breeder at the weekend shows a couple of weeks ago. She looked so beautiful (not sure why her ears are back in this photo) and she floated round the ring prancing on her front paws.... I had to hid away because if she saw me, she wouldn't have showed so well. She stayed with the breeder all weekend and when I arrived at the show on Sunday morning, she was sitting in the breeder's lap - my little hooligan :D

Shyloh in the straw

2008-11-26T00:54:00.000-08:00

We have put down wheat straw in our garden to soak up all the mud from the continual mist and rain we are having at the moment. The Giant Schnauzer puppy had a whale of a time in the straw. See photos below........

ONE MONTH OLD

2008-11-24T00:29:00.000-08:00

The kittens were 1 month old on 22 Nov 2008. Here are some photos of them playing in the house......

My Salukis

2008-11-13T23:51:00.000-08:00

I have posted photos of all my other animals so now it is time for my Salukis.......
This is Elef my Desert Bred Girl. She comes from Israel. She is not sure she likes the sea. Actually I am suprised she went so far into the sea.

Elem, her brother standing in the garden, pondering the meaning of life. He normally lives with my parents but comes to visit his sister when they go away. Elem and Elef still have a very close bond and they cry when separated from each other.

Here he is reclining on the sofa - a saluki's favourite position.

My old Saluki (and my first Saluki girl) is a Grizzle girl born and bred in South Africa. She is 6 years old this year. Next year she is a veteran...... This photo is of Patti and David in the show ring. Somehow I managed to chop the top of David's head off..... (embarrased smile)

Hadiyyah is my little Saudia Arabian girl who still lives with her breeder and mother in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. I still have to fetch her. Here she is in a Saluki's favourite position - lying on the sofa with some of her brothers and sisters lying on the floor.

Shyloh in the mud

2008-11-13T01:42:00.001-08:00

Our latest puppy, Shyloh had a wonderful time in the garden this morning. Below is a photo of her after she played in the mud. She has plasters on her ears to pull them straight - they are "flying" because she is teething.

Kittens are 1 week old

2008-10-29T22:02:00.000-07:00

Squirrel's 2nd litter of kittens are 1 week old......

Ben - Concert Status

2008-10-29T21:43:00.000-07:00

Ben has finally gained his concert status and can sing in the performing choir!!!!! His mother is dancing the happy dance. We are all so proud of him. Way to go Ben!!!!!!

Squirrel's 2nd litter

2008-10-23T02:14:00.000-07:00

My daughter, Jo's Burmese cat has had her 2nd litter of kittens. They were born yesterday morning (22 Sept 2008) from about 4am. I playing midwife at 5am yesterday morning. I am so proud of the mommy cat..... she did everything herself. She pushed out 4 babies within about 2 hours, licked the sacs off their heads as they were coming out, licked them dry and ate all the placentas etc, purring loudly all the time. She is such a wonderful mother, so attentive and loving. The photo below is of the 4 kittens taken late yesterday afternoon sleeping together in a heap. The miracle of life is awe inspiring......

Squirrel's Kitten

2008-02-18T05:39:00.000-08:00

The kittens are 3 weeks old today!!!!!! Happy Birthday......
They are starting to adventure further away from the nest and their mommy watches carefully over them. My one Saluki tries to peep in the bedroom where the kittens are occasionally and she gets chased up the passage by the cat. The poor Saluki is VERY traumatised. Watch this space for more photos.........

The kittens have finally been born. They were born very early during the morning of 12 Feb 2008. There are 3, 2 dark kittens and 1 light kitten. I have not yet managed to sex them. The brown kitten seems to be a boy (They all look like boys to me but we'll see). This is a photo of them at 2 days old.

Our Family

2008-01-17T05:14:00.001-08:00

In our family we have 3 children, 4 cats and 4 dogs. This post describes the people and animals that make up our family.

First we have Ben, our eldest son who is at boarding school for the first time this year. Way to go Ben - have a great time. Carpe Dieme.

Then there is David and his special dog, Oz. Ozzie is a Border Collie cross Australian Cattle Dog and he will be trained as an Agility dog. David runs very fast so needs a fast little dog to keep up with him :LOL

Last but not least there is Jo, our cat lady. Jo is passionate about cats (and cricket). She adores cats and it is her cat that is pregnant. This photo is of Jo in her Eyeore pyjamas with the latest addition to the family - Stardust the lilac Burmese kitten.

Have you ever seen this...... a sleeping burmese kitten and a sleeping saluki puppy - next to each other!!!! At one stage Stardust the kitten was curled up with Elef, the saluki. Tranquility.... not that it happens often..... :LOL

We have a very pregnant Burmese cat. Her name is Squirrel and she is a Brown Tortie. She is between 4 and 5 weeks pregnant - you can feel tiny bumps in her tummy.

This is the latest photo taken of Squirrel. She is about 1 to 2 weeks away from giving birth. She is HUGE and has milk already. The question is: guess the number of kittens she is going to have. I suppose we can only wait and see....... Watch this space for more photos.

Then we have 2 other cats - a Siamese and a Tonkinese. The Siamese cat is the best hunters I have ever seen. She has even caught bats. We put a collar with a bell on round her neck to warn "her prey" that she is coming so now she can't catch anything. Poor Siamese cat :LOL

Shuler the Siamese cat sitting outside the kitchen window surveying the landscape.

After the cats we have the dogs........

I have 2 Salukis, one bred in South Africa and one from the Negev Desert in Israel. I imported her and her brother (who lives with my parents) in August 2007, a beloved Schnauzer, probably the last of her line and then David's little dog. Actually all my animals are my beloved animals. :LOL. I don't love one more than the other......

The first dog is my beloved Saluki puppy. Her name is Elef Neshikot which means 1000 Kisses. She is a desert bred Saluki and comes from the Negev Desert in Israel. This is a photo of her lying on our very dirty kitchen floor. I will try and take some better photos sometime but at the moment this is the best I have.......

Then we have the fish - we have 2 fish tanks - a marine tank and a tropical fish tank. The Marine tank is Ben's. At the moment there are only 2 clown fish in it - we seem to have a permanent problem with the nitrate levels and the green and red algae...... This weekend I am going to do a water swop, clean all the algae off the sides of the tank and try and take some photos of the lonely clown fish - should be an adventure......

A photo of a blue damsel fish - if you look carefully you can see the banded coral shrimp in the backround. David is photographer-in-chief and he is doing a good job.

and the "famous" clown fish

and finally the banded coral shrimp.....

The tropical fish tank belongs to David and has stacks of fish in. It is much easier to keep a tropical fish tank than a marine tank but we try.......