I have been reading with interest on the IGPOST how many iggy owners have their bubs in their bed with them. Ziggers really did not want it any other way when he came, and the first night the three of us went to bed, Lola just copied Ziggy and crawled in under the covers. I frankly wouldn't want it any other way as they are very sweet and snuggly in the night. In the heat of summer I may rethink but for now its fine.
So here is a quick sneak of the bubs. I am in bed with the lappie and I have quickly lifted the quilt cover twice and taken a couple of quick pics.
First here is Lola, who sleeps on her side or her back. She is known to "roach" when sleeping - roaching is when they sleep like a dead cockroach on their back with legs in the air making a tent of the covers:
And here is most of Ziggy...he will probably move back to his bed at the end of my bed when the lights go out:
Pity you can't hear Lola...she's having a dream and there are little yelps and woofs coming from under the covers. She does it most nights and its super cute.
We are back after spending a week at the farm. It was a busy week with mum and I working on some activities for my new venture, and a busy time for Lola and Ziggy playing with mum's puppy Milo.
I took some photos of the iglets in the long grasses and flowers...they look so sweet...
Lola looks so sweet amongst the daisies
Loping along together
My Handsome Iggy Boy
No photos of Milo from this trip, but here he is from an earlier visit to the farm: first with Ziggy...
and then asleep sharing the bed with Lola
So, we are home. All the puppies are exhausted from so much playing. I expect Lola and Ziggy to have some quiet-ish days. Milo is having his "snip" tomorrow poor baby, so I expect he will also have some quieter days this week!
We also heard some news last week on Ivana, Lola's sister who travelled to Perth with her on the plane. Here are the two babies when I went to collect Lola at the airport:
And here is Ivana from a couple of weeks ago:
Ivana has been to 3 or 4 shows and according to mum Kim was getting the hang of it until she broke her leg! Poor baby. We hope to see Ivana again soon, as I have made some coats for her and need to deliver them to her.
That's all for tonight...sleeping iggies under the covers - happy back in their own big bed...thank goodness they let me share it with them.
Well I cannot quite believe that my baby boy is 1, but its all true. We had a great party at the park today with his sweet friends and he had the best time.
I do smile at something Maddox' dad, Forest, said recently...that not to humanise the dogs, but doesn't Maddox sometimes wonder about the amazing coincidence that every time he goes to the park all his friends are there too LOL. That there is a group of puppy mums and dads who purposely coordinate the park playtime is, of course, the truth; but I sometimes wonder what they all think about it.
And so we coordinated a meet at the park tonight to celebrate Ziggy's milestone. We even had this great birthday cake made by the lovely Emma from Hair of the Dog Barkery. Emma is so sweet she even brought my Ziggy boy a pressie when she dropped the cake off to us. Thanks Emma.
Now, there is no denying that Maddox is Ziggy's best buddy. They met at Hyde Park many months ago, and catch up 4 or 5 times a week at the park, as well as having a good run around at Daycare every Thursday. Ziggy usually does a sprint across the park as soon as he spies Maddox and then its sniffs and kisses all round. Today, though, as soon as Maddox' limo pulled in Ziggy was off to say hi.
Even Lola and Attila raced over to say hello. No doubt Lola felt she should say special thanks to Maddox, after he was kind enough to stop in last week and drop off a "get well card" for Lola after her sterilisation op. He's got such good manners, that Maddox.
Fresh from slaying 500,000 Russians between home and the park - with the assistance of older brother Attila of course - 10 week old Genghis turned his killer instinct to the balloons.
Genghis and Attila were very kind to the Ziglet giving him a fabbo birthday present...both fun and practical it included some rubber toys and a stack of poo bags, no doubt stolen from the park itself!
Oh and Kylie got some scratchies...I'll have to scratch them tonight.
Izzy is always the life of the party. Mum Tania says it is rare to get an in focus, front facing photo of this zany, party girl, but here is one.
Izzy, kind girl that she is, gave Ziggy a gift of chicken flavoured puppy treats and Tania brought the plonk for the human party goers, who illegally consumed some bubbly in public to celebrate Ziggy's milestone.
Izzy's card was great, as she carefully wrote: Dear Ziggy Happy 1st Birthday!!! Thanks for all the chasey at the park and games at doggy-daycare...cannot believe you are so old now! Heres to many more days at the park, games and treats! Lots of love and sniffin' Izzy
Before long Pepper arrived with mum Trish in tow, and as always the Ziglet was off and saying hi. You might think, 'wow, what a sociable little puppy that Ziggy is' but the truth is far more basic. Ziggy knows that Trish has treats in her back pocket...and not just any treats, but Schmackos. So he basically sucks up to the best treat prospects to improve his chances...LOL
Then it was time to break out the cake. Scott (father to fearsome duo Attila and Genghis) did the honours and gained a lot of friends in the process. Here (left to right) Attila, Ziggy, Ramsay and Maddox give Scott appropriate respect as the chief cake holder.
Maddox was pretty deeply engrossed in the art of eating at one stage. And soon after Pippin and Muffin arrived. Pippin is acting all puppy-like again, as her puppies went to their new homes last weekend, and she has no responsibilities again. She and Muffin kindly gave Ziggy a present of a pink, fluffy toy with a squeaker...mind you though, Maddox sorta liked it too, and it had to be retrieved from him many times. But it was a nice present, even with Maddox slobber on it...perhaps even better with the slobber.
And Ziggy had a special visitor to his party in the form of Bear, the big and scary puppy. Here's Bear:
And here is Mickey after some Bear kisses:
So now I am at home with two very tired puppies. Ziggy ate so much cake he's not had any dinner, and Lola has a sore tummy (I can tell because she keeps making stinky smells) because she ate Ziggy's dinner as well as her own!
Thanks to everyone who came along, and also to Helen and Forest for the lovely wine...far better to give Ziggy's mum a pressie, given that Ziggy is one of the two most spoiled puppies in Perth LOL.
I can't sing - well I can it's just people cannot stand to hear me do so - so the best I can do is quote lyrics for effect.
I have been a stranger to my blog for far too long. A lot of things have been happening. It is time for a re-start in many senses. And so the blog is getting an overhaul.
Not only have the name and colours changed. I am keeping my personal entries from the past, but many others I have deleted. This is now just a personal blog...about me, about my baby iggies, our life with friends and family. While I will continue to create, those elements of my life will be captured elsewhere...see the links list at the right.
So please pop back to see what is happening in our lives...you might find that there are more frequent posts going forward, but I make no promises :).
It has been a busy couple of months, as well as being ones where I have been a little blue, and so I have not blogged much. I am amazed it is now the middle of the year! and whilst I have done a lot there is still so much more to do...so a proper update is in order for those who have asked what's been going on in my world...
The Ziglet Ziggy is going so well...I can't believe he's now nine months old. He has really grown and is now classified as something of a "biggy" rather than an iggy, as he has grown into a beautiful example of his breed, although taller and stronger than Italian Greyhounds usually are.
And he's a good big brother to little Lola...here they are together in what used to be just Ziggy's bed:
And still sharing at bedtime:
That's the first stage of bedtime...the one before I am ready to go to bed. Once I am also ready for sleep then I am permitted to share Ziggy and Lola's very large bed - the one that used to be mine! Iggies were bred to be bedwarmers and I can say my two are very effective at it.
Ziggy still goes off to daycare two days a week, and he loves going - he gets super excited and jumps all over me licking my face as soon as I mention the words "daycare" and "Judith" - the animal behaviourist who runs the daycare. Here is playing with one of his little friends, Daisy:
Lovely Lola Lovely she is, and growing so fast. She had her first walk on the lead today, ahead of her first puppy pre-school class tomorrow. She is far more outgoing than the Ziglet and quick to press strangers for a cuddle and to sniff out other dogs. That's not to say she doesn't behave like a normal, diva iggy and play coy a lot and sook a bit about most minor things.
Like all puppies, she is at her most gorgeous when asleep, and my does she have some funny sleeping positions:
And like most iggy puppies she has trouble sorting out her ears...it has been a "bad ear week" for Lola all of last week, and it is still continuing now...no matter how many times I pull her litle ears forward they still turn themselves inside out again within a minute ot two:
Lola's also had me a little stunned this weekend with how athletic she is - they say iggy puppies think they can fly - well Lola really can. I have a higher, retained garden bed in my yard, and Ziggy has been taking refuge in it from Lola - hiding his special toys and bones up there so he doesn't have to share...well not anymore, she is up and down off there no trouble at all - I am working hard at the moment to train her to jump up and down over the garden bed part, rather than the pavers, to minimise the risk of broken legs. Very strong little girl...poor Ziggy...he's starting to realise she now wears the pants in this household.
Car Trouble Yes, this was a little sad and annoying...and in some respects embarassing. Coming home from the farm late one night a few weeks ago a Lancer driver - my paramedic brother says they are one of the most common vehicles involved in accidents he attends - decided to turn right at a traffic light intersection - across the path of my oncoming Peugeot. Suffice to say it was a double-demerit weekend and I had the cruise control set to a very low 60km/h and was slowing as I had seen the driver look like they were going to do a silly thing...I was able to evade around the back of their car rather than T-bone them, but still some considerable damage to the pug...the Lancer lost most of its boot but the pug - solid, French beast that it is - handled the impact far better:
The embarassing part - realising how old I am, how much I drive like a granny sometimes etc when filling out the claim forms and police report, showing that I've had my license for almost 20 years, had no motor vehicle accidents or claims for more than 15 years. Embarassing but probably good all the same. I don't lose my no claim bonus or pay any excess because it was 100% the other driver's fault.
The pug should be fixed and as good as new this week, and I am looking forward to having it back in my garage.
Other Stuff The planning for Rally 2010 is going really well and we had a big quiz night fundraiser last Friday night. We open registrations for the rally in less than a month and that is going to be very exciting!
I have been helping my mum with setting up an online store for her doll mould business, and also pottering around with a few other things of my own. With Lola here now, I find the Ziglet is happy off playing with her and I have more of my "free" time to work on the plans I have had simmering away for the last 6 months...some of them should come to fruition much faster now.
To my SBS and Klass Act sisters...I do look at your blogs from time to time, and wish I wasn't having a creating block, but at some stage my mojo will come back and then I will find new pleasure in blogging and sharing what I have done. Until then, I can really only talk about puppies and cars with you all :).
Okay...now people are starting to call me to ask that I update my blog. Why no blogging for so long?
I've done very little paper crafting
I've actually been enjoying my *real* work - shock horror - and so I have been spending more time there
I've been very busy with the car club organising the national rally for next year
And now there is a new distraction in my home...meet Lola:
Lola arrived in Perth from Sydney on Tuesday 16 June and has quickly settled into life with Ziggy and I...she is now 12 weeks old and cute as a button. Ziggy is a real older brother, as the two pups have the same sire. Here she is with Ziggy...he is a little protective
They play a fair bit...I find it hilarious to see behaviours that I thought were just Ziggy being exhibited by Lola and realising that they are actually Italian Greyhound traits. Here they are sleeping together on the first night. They have actually graduated from this to a more congenial sleep position...right now they are asleep in the same bed with one resting atop the other. Very cute.
A month between posts...how slack is that! There has been some crafting going on, and after I finish my "year in review" for February this week I will post some things. For now though here is a puppy update...
Ziggy goes to "daycare" two days a week. Some people roll their eyes at the idea of "daycare" but what it actually provides is a place for my little chap to play and play and play with his little mates. He usually spends the day with five or six other dogs the same size and temperament and they really do just chase, tussle, tug of war all day. They have sleeps and cuddles in between and he's usually exhausted when I pick him up. However, the way he drags me to the door when we arrive - and that follows excited leaping in the back of the car and desperation to get out - means I know he really enjoys it. Here's how he spends the night and some of the day following:
And more fun awaits Ziggy in the coming months as he will have a little playmate 24/7. Here is the new little chap - at 5 weeks old - that comes to Perth to live with Ziggy and I in May:
