Shadowbox Kennels

Boxer! I liked Mack, but it just didn’t suit him. So we came up with the name Boxer, which is a lot better. He is the sweetest little thing! Well, not really little. He was fifteen pounds at his last vet appointment, and has grown a ton since! He’s doing really well with his house training. He’s pretty good with ’sit’, and now we’re working on ‘come’. He absolutely loves being in the house! He likes trying to play with Tiger, but Tiger isn’t quite as eager. He’s too fat to do anything, just kind of ignores him.

He’s a pretty photogenic little guy. I have a ton of pictures of him! I’ve been working on a dog scrapbook, and I figure I’ll have quite a few pages of him! I called the kennel club, and they suggested waiting until he’s had all his puppy shots before he starts classes. So we’ll start the next set, in March. We’ll see how that goes, and may dog beginner’s level 1 and 2. I’d like to take him camping, and start bikejoring with him once he’s bigger.

I took a friend of mine out dogsledding the other day. We just took two dogs for her first experience, and it went really well. She enjoyed it, and the dogs did great, once we got going. They weren’t so sure about pulling an extra person, so I let her take the two of them and met them up the trail. We just packed it with snowshoes instead of the snowmachine, and I prefer that. Not as hard-packed, so it’s easier to use the drag brake!

I bought a gps on ebay, and I can’t wait to get it! I want to find our property line, so I can start putting up fencing for the cows. I don’t know how many I’ll get, it’ll depend on how much they are. I’d like to get at least two, preferably three or four. Then I’d sell one or two in the fall, and keep two over the winter. I’ll breed them, if they’re old enough. I’d like to get a small herd going. It’ll take awhile to build up, but you need to start somewhere, right?

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Isn’t Mack a cutie? He’s going to look just like his daddy, Blacky. I love his ears! I took another close up of them:

Here’s little kitty. Her real name is Kitkat, but no one calls her that. My brother calls her evil, I call her little kitty or stupid kitty, and dad calls her “that cat”. She’s my sister’s cat, and a pain in the butt. I can’t complain too much, I got her little kitty as a birthday gift for her. Dumb move! Little kitty doesn’t take so well to dogs, so we’re slowly getting her used to Puppy. Here she is hiding before some clothes, watching his every move! Stealth kitty!

Here’s Mack checking something out. Abby (the ‘little’ black dog) was playing in her blankets, and Mack wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.

Abby’s gotten used to seeing pups in the house over the years, but doesn’t bother with them too much. Mack wanted to play, but Abby tried to keep her distance. Isn’t he a cutie though?

Mack went for his shots yesterday morning, and one of his brothers came for his shots as well. That one looks exactly like Sierra did as a pup! These guys are her grandkids. We’ll likely get Mack neutered once he’s older, since he’s related to all the girls in our yard. He’s related to actually almost all the dogs. We have both the mom’s parents and a brother, and three of the dad’s siblings. I’m hoping to start obedience classes with him in the new year. I can’t wait!

So what’s up with the rain? We were having gorgeous weather, snow and nice temps around -10*C to -20*C, when all of a sudden it warmed up! All our snow is melting, and it’s actually raining outside! What’s worse is when it cools down again, we’re going to be stuck with a lot of ice. Definitely doesn’t have the ‘Christmas spirit’ feeling to it. Raining in December. Pathetic, isn’t it.

Merry Christmas everyone, from our kennel to yours!

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The last guy for sale is being picked up today. It’ll be sad without them all!� But I decided to keep one, so I’m sure that’ll keep me busy! Foxy is relieved that they’re leaving, I’m sure. They were starting to drive her batty! The one we’re keeping is named Mac. That’s what we originally named him, and I thought about changing his name, but my sister really likes it, so we’ll keep it. He’s such a sweetie! I’m hoping to start obedience classes with him in January. Then he can come house-sit with me in February and keep me company!

On the schooling front, I finished my application for university. I applied for nursing and kinesiology. I’m hoping for nursing, but wouldn’t mind kin. I guess we’ll see. I likely have�a better chance of getting into nursing anyway!

Today I’m planning on snowshoeing the trails and doing more packing, and hopefully we’ll get a few dogs out. We’ll see how it goes. They’re all anxious for another run! I want to work with Mufasa more in lead. She seems to be doing well so far.

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The puppies are so cute! They’re growing so fast! So far four of them are sold, and we have three of the black males left. I’ve been hoping one won’t sell, so I’ll be able to keep him! My parents don’t seem to share my enthusiasm though.� Don’t know why though . . .

We have a good amount of snow now. I’m hoping to get out snowshoeing a pack a trail, and then get the dogsled out. I having been feeling very well lately. This week I’ll get out for sure though.

The chickens and the rooster are doing good. They’re so funny! In the spring I’m going to try brooding some eggs, and see if we can raise some of our own. I’m planning on buying a couple dozen though.

Foxy is still with the pups. I think she’s starting to dry up, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re still nursing at night. I didn’t want to take her away from them yet, since it’s pretty cool. I figure if I keep a pup, I’ll move her into the pen with Slate and Blacky, and tie her up and let the pup run loose. It’ll be good for him to socialize with his daddy and Slate. I want to take him to obedience lessons, and bring him to work sometimes. And he can keep me company when I house-sit at my boss’s for six weeks later this winter.

Dad said I could get some livestock in the spring. I’m going to get three or four cows, pheasants, turkeys, meat chickens, and more laying chickens. I’d like to build up our cow herd over the next few years, and then sometime get�a milk cow, once I have a set schedule. And a horse, too.

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I love puppies! They are so much fun! The four black boys look a lot alike. So do the two grey girls.

The puppies are so cute! They’re starting to show different personalities now, and we can finally tell them all apart!

Plus, it’s snowing! We have so much snow now, it’s awesome. Almost a foot here, and we’re supposed to get more. Yah! Soon I’ll have to snowmachine out, and we might give the dogsled a try soon. I can’t wait!

In chicken news, we got a rooster. His name is Rocky, and he’s an Americauna. He’s a very pretty boy, and likes his new home. I’ll try and get a pic of him soon.

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The puppies are so cute! We started giving them soaked dog food, all mushed up. Some of them are taking to it really well, and some don’t seem to care. They’re only three weeks old, so I’m not too concerned! We usually start them at this age, and they’re pretty much weaned around five weeks. A couple of the puppies just love the new food, and eat and eat and eat! They’re so cute! We’re starting to be able to tell the difference between them. It’s easy with the grey boy, since the other two grey ones are girls, and they’re more black than grey. But I can’t tell the difference between the two girls. As far as I can see, they’re identical! Of the four black boys, one is noticeably bigger and has only a few white hairs on his chest. One has a little bit of white hair on his chest, one has more and some white on his toes, and the last one has a lot of white on his chest, and white toes. We haven’t really decided who gets what name. We started with the grey boy, and he’s Harm (Harman Rab Jr.). The two girls are Kate and Meg, but I can’t tell them apart anyway, so it doesn’t matter. The fat black boy is Bud. We haven’t figured out the other three yet. They’re adorable! I’ll get more pix soon!

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If I look out my window right now, everything is white. It’s amazing! I love snow! The roads were a little dicey driving home from work yesterday, but it’s definitely worth it.

The chickens have settled into their new home.� It’s been cold the last few days, but they seem to be handling it fine. Must be the nice house I built for them!

The puppies are so cute! I’ll get some more pix of them later this morning. They’re not coming out of their house yet, but they’re starting to play inside the house, and growl and stuff. They’re adorable!!!

Rainy is doing awesome in her new home. She’s mostly an indoor dog, and absolutely loves it! She spent the first few days getting used to it, but now she’s starting to show more of her character. Darren just loves her. When he came home from getting her, his mom said he ran in the house and started telling all the animals that they had a new dog, and was jumping on the couch and basically bouncing off the walls. He’s so cute! I’m glad they like her. His dad does some sledding every once in awhile, and she’ll likely get out with him a few times this winter.

We decided to name the pups after ‘Jag’ characters. The two girls are Kate and Meg, and the boys are Jag, Harm, Mac, Bud, and Austen.

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