Totally off the subject of needlework today, my husband and I have several Old English Sheepdogs.  There are some facts of life in having OES around the house. First off it really helps if you like hair since they are covered with a lot of it. Second you have to get used to the fact that if they get “Sick” cleaning up after them is a process in itself. Did you ever wonder why a dog has a tail? Well if you have an OES you know what it’s like to have a dog with no tail and what that entails (no pun intended here) when they get “poopie butt”. I have come to the conclusion that a tail is the dog world’s version of toilet paper. If the dog has no tail, they are with out that build in necessity.

So here we are! Rocky and Dickens are entered in a dog show this weekend up in Eagle Colorado. It’s not a real hot spot, but it is nestled in the mountains just a short jump to Aspen and Vail and other glamour spots here in Colorado. It’s really a pretty place, hot for the mountains this time of year but they built a new facility that’s inside and air conditioned so that dogs and people will not suffer too badly from, the heat. The other perk of Eagle is the diner there. They have the all time best Chicken Fried Steak breakfast and I look forward to that every year. This year I am not going to be able to go up there even thought we are entered; I have several sheepies that are not feeling well. Four of them in fact, all the one’s in coat. Three of them seem to be better this morning, but the fourth is still not feeling well. UGH!

This is when I wish we had sheepies with tails. I just feel really bad that I am responsible for this malady they are suffering from.  We have changed their food from one brand to another brand. All of them have been on this brand before so it should not be that big of a deal. WRONG! Even though I have been weaning them off the old brand for about 2.5 weeks and they are totally on the new brand I did not expect the problem as bad as we have it.

So in order to keep everyone calm this weekend while we got on top of this problem, we are not going to the dog show.  Note to self here. Do not change their food right before a show, and if you are going to do something like that, do not give 3 dogs in coat a full body bath beforehand. The one that’s still suffering, Rocky is gong to need another body bath this weekend. I might have to wait till Wednesday to make sure he is fully recovered before I subject myself and the dog to this activity.

Dickens I might add looks really pretty. He has that total deer in the headlights look because he can not see through all that head fur. He’s not really long enough to go in the ring and win it all, but he’s getting there. We have to get him some points first, get him Championed and then we can do the real winning thing.

Now as for needlework, it’s been a weird month. First off my mom has had really bad nose bleeds and has not been able to be in the shop. This makes it really hard for me to get anything done in the way of ordering. Then on top of the nose thing, she still is not seeing well from the cataract surgery she had earlier this year.  She went in on Tuesday to get some more surgery done, but still is not seeing that well. I guess it’s because she has macular degeneration in both eyes. This is not a good thing. So I am hoping that they can help her out a bit and that eventually we can get back to the business at hand.  If not I’m afraid we might have to close the business down because I am not sure I could do it by myself.