happy birthday ...

... to the Persikka litter who are 4 years old today!

What a gorgeous bunch they are now at 4 years - and what a gorgeous bunch they were at 4 weeks.

I must confess that I raided some people's Facebook pages for some of these photos and just plain nicked them.  That's right, I'm shameless like that.  Had to be done. 

Persikka Kuura  -  aka Kuura  -  formerly known as Junior

 

Persikka Bo  -  aka Bo  -  formerly known as Budgie

Persikka Sonni  -  aka Buddy  -  formerly known as Kicker

Persikka Tippi  -  aka Tippi  -  formerly known as Honey

Persikka Marja  -  aka Marja  -  formerly known as Marilyn

Persikka Ukko  -  aka Ukko  -  formerly known as Kuusi

Persikka Kasari  -  aka Sisu  -  formerly known as Vee

happy birthday...

... to the beautiful Persikka puppies who are 3 years old today.  Here's how they looked at 3 weeks. 

If their owners are tuning in, they should feel free to send me a recent photo.  Just sayin.

Kuura - who was Elias Jr

Bo - who was Budgie

Sonni aka Buddy - who was Kicker

Tippi - who was Honey

Marja - who was Marilyn

Ukko - who was Kuusi

Kasari aka Sisu - who was Vee

naughty show puppies

Egad, did I manage to publish a blog post without a photo last time? Huh, sorry about that. I'm sure you all tune in for my entertaining prose rather than photos of cute dogs, but still...

To make up for it, I have permission to publish a video that Alan recorded of Sisu & Bo at their very first outing at the Scottish Kennel Club show in Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago. Bo is in front being handled by Wendy (of Wendy & Karhu fame) and Sisu is behind her being handled by Kristiina who I must say is looking very able at her own very first show.

From this video you get to see 2 very adorable & funny puppies who are just a bit distracted by all the excitement and just a little eager to get to each other for a game. You get to see just how difficult it can be to show a puppy. You can train & train & train and still this is what happens. Even for the veteran dog show folk, it can be a test. Just ask Wendy.

In this instance Sisu won Best Puppy, but the judge said that she also loved Bo and that she would have placed very well indeed in this competition if only she had allowed the judge to examine her... when you've seen how her siblings act for judges in the ring, it's easy to tell they're all related.

(A small word of warning: turn the volume down! Someone standing near Alan as he recorded the video was enjoying the sound of his or her own voice.)



So this erratic behaviour is something they will grow out of with time & practice. Or at least that's the theory, anyway. I'll get back to you on that.

meanwhile

While we were in Scotland there were yet more family members to meet up with. The Persikka puppies are almost 6 months old already and 2 of the littermates are yapping with a Scottish accent. After the show we all met up at the beach in Elie where Wendy & I went with Karhu during my last visit. Alas, the weather was rather different on this occasion than on that one.

But we didn't let the damp horizontal wind affect our spirits.















L-R: Siblings Sisu & Bo, uncle Karhu, granny Neka, auntie Taika & Minna
People: Kristiina, Rona & Jay

As with all photos like this one, there is plenty of chaos in trying to wrangle everyone into place.









Looks to me like Wendy might have been trying to get everyone's attention with sausages.







The brother & sister Sisu & Bo had a wonderful time racing and playing on the beach. Karhu adopted a little more dignity and simply nicked Bo's tennis ball and played by himself at the water's edge. Later, when we were back on dry land, he gave it a toss to see if there were any takers amongst the younger family members.















Later still, the humans had a well deserved drink at the Ship Inn next to the beach. Karhu was his usual well-behaved self, snoozing under the table. It was Sisu's first time at the beach, and like most unsuspecting puppies, he drank rather more sea water than he should have done and we had rather a lot of mopping up to do on the pub floor when all the water came back up. Here he is looking a bit green around the gills. Poor puppy!




















In the meantime, Karhu & Bo look smugly on.




No, she's not actually bigger than Karhu, it's just the camera angle. But just look at the size of her paws! You can see they're related.

look how big

Before February leaves us I must get one pupdate in. In 12 hours the puppies will be 12 weeks old and well into the housetraining, puppy classes and learning how to get all the members of the household doing their bidding.

Here are a few photos I have been sent (or nicked from blogs, Facebook, etc). First the girls:





Tippi in the garden practicing her show stand while preparing to get muddy.














Bo with ears up already.












Marja munching moss.













Ukko chilling out & practicing being cute.














Sisu looking innocent - but I don't think we're fooled, are we?
















Kuura enjoying a cigar in the garden.










And if you're wondering where the photos of Buddy are, a broken camera is to blame. I'm still holding out hope for one or two.

seven, six, five, four

The inevitable has happened. The puppies are almost 8 weeks old and one by one are setting off on their new adventures, going to their new homes in time to spend the weekend with their excited new families.

The first to go was Bo (Budgie) in the wee small hours of the morning for her trek to Scotland with Alan and his dad. Rona played it smart and waited at home for the puppy to be delivered. Smart!





















And here she is settling right into her new favorite spot.










Then Ukko (Kuusi) set off for the short trip up the road to Exeter with Becca and her mum. I did tell him before he left that his new home was furnished with white (white!) sofas. You should have heard him laugh.





















Looking pretty tiny in his new crate.









Next was Sisu (Vee), following his sister alllll the way up to Scotland with Kristiina and Eric. They haven't even arrived home yet, so we'll have to wait for pics of him settling in.
















Sisu will have a new name as well because apparently "Sisu" is a kennel name somewhere so it was refused by the Kennel Club. Second choice is Saimaa, so hopefully we'll be luckier with that one. He'll still be called Sisu, though.