show milestone

INFINDIGO MAILAT ULLA JW

Ch Lecibsin Salo of TabanyaRuu JW ShCM x Infindigo Riemu Emmi ShCM

Date of birth 10 July 2015

Ulla with her Best In Show Rosette & Cup - photo by Mark Treasure

 When you show dogs there are ups and downs.  Even if your dog is not exactly a great match for the breed standard that judges should be working to, you will have a few exciting moments at shows.  Even if your dog is an outstanding example of the breed, you won't always win.  That's the way it goes.  I tell everyone who starts out in showing that you need to be a good loser and you need to enjoy it whether you win or not.  Because, the truth is, you will rarely win.

Occasionally a dog will come along who is extra-special in terms of showing.  They will be a great example of the breed, sure, but they will also love being in the spotlight, have someone willing and able to train them to perform as expected, and someone to take them to shows.  Lots of shows.  I have had all of that with Ulla.  She's a sweet-natured, high-energy, clever little sweetie-pie with owners who did a terrific job of training her and who are committed to keeping her fit and well groomed and are kind enough to let her be my showdog.  And in my 15 years of owning, breeding and showing Finnish Lapphunds, she has given me most of my greatest thrills in the showring.

NWPB July 2019

 There are different levels of winning, too.  There are the open shows where you may or may not get a judge who is knowledgeable about the breed - or even likes them! - and you might not even have specific breed classes.  There are the championship shows where the top winners keep on winning and, under the UK system, other dogs who are still excellent representatives of the breed and worthy of the title of champion unfortunately never reach that pinnacle because they can rarely get past the top winners.  Then there are the special shows, of which you might get two a year, if you're lucky.  In Finnish Lapphunds, there are 3 such special shows each year for me.  They are Crufts in March and the two shows where we get Finnish judges every year:  Southern Counties in June and the Finnish Lapphund Club of Great Britain championship show in April.  I always like to make sure I get to those shows, at the very least, because it's always good fun.  Even better fun when you don't already have a good idea what the judge likes and who they will choose.

My biggest and most exciting show win in 15 years of participating happened 2 days ago at the FL Club of GB champ show.  In an entry of 91 dogs under one of our kindest, funniest, most entertaining and enjoyable judges ever, Mr Juha Kares from Finland, Ulla won Best in Show.

She first won her Limit class in tough competition.  There was even a final, nail-biting run-off with the second place winner.  She then went into the lineup against all the other bitch class winners.  She was looking so good and moving so well that as I stood there I had a brief hope she just might get the Reserve CC.  When the judge gave her the CC, I admit to being rather overwhelmed and tearing up a bit.  The great roar from the spectators was incredibly moving.  No one got a photo of my face at that moment, but one of the few clear memories I have is making the shocked-face emoji in real life with bugged-out eyes, open mouth and hands to face.  Then this happened.  I look just a bit thrilled, and it's so lovely to have these photos of that moment, thanks to Sally McKinlay.

A bit excited about winning the Bitch Challenge Certificate

Outside the ring, gathering my wits and waiting for the Best in Show challenge with the Dog CC winner, there were so many hugs and congratulations and genuine well-wishes.  I was still a bit stunned.  One friend asked me if I was going to be able to pull it together for the challenge.  My reply was (something along the lines of ) ab-so-flipping-lutely!  And so I did.  Unfortunately I can't remember the judge actually awarding Ulla Best in Show, nor the cheering that I know erupted when she did. 

Sept 2017 - Photo by Adele Liu

And then I stood outside the ring, still a little teary, accepting congratulations and watching, rather dazed, the challenge for Best Puppy in Show and Best Veteran in Show.  I had recovered pretty well, and I thought I was holding it all together pretty well.  But the thing that completely "did for me" (as I believe someone commented at the time) was Ulla's mum, Emmi, being awarded Best Veteran in Show.   To do so, she had to beat the lovely Special Vintage Bitch and the top-winning Best Veteran Dog.  Jane's face says it all!

Infindigo Riemu Emmi ShCM, judge Juha Kares & Jane Treasure

These wins were all the more special because Ulla's sire, Ch Lecibsin Salo of TabanyaRuu JW ShCM, also won his first CC and Best Opposite Sex in Show at this same show 5 years earlier.   The family resemblance between Ulla and her special dad made for an emotional day for a lot of us.

Ch Lecibsin Salo of TabanyaRuu JW ShCM with Liz Mowatt

Ulla December 2017 - photo Thomas Hinchliffe

Here are a few of Ulla's top wins in her career to date:

2016
Reserve Best Bitch - Midland Counties - judge Helena Hutchings-Brooks 
Reserve Challenge Certificate - Driffield - judge breed specialist Vikki Lloyd
Junior Warrant 

2017
Best of Breed - WELKS - judge Cath Moffat
Winner Special Beginners Stakes - WELKS - judge Joe Smith
Reserve Challenge Certificate - Birmingham National - judge Liz Cartledge
Best Opposite Sex - Midland Counties - judge Helen Gutteridge

2018
Gave birth to 3 gorgeous puppies, the Sisko litter

2019
1st Limit Bitch - Crufts - judge breed specialist Pat Patch
Best in Show - FL Club of GB - judge Juha Kares, Finland

Just after judging finished

At some point the full results should appear on the Club website here. 

The judge gave Ulla the most lovely critique I've ever read... but I can't reprint it here until it has been published in the dog paper.  Watch this space.  But it said, among other things, that she was perfect and that he loved her.  Well, who wouldn't! 

welcome to the sisko puppies

One of the things I love about breeding dogs is watching family traits get passed from generation to generation. Sometimes a trait will skip a generation or even two, and then turn up when you least expect it. That goes for good stuff like cute habits, cleverness or pretty eyes as well as the less desirable stuff like, say, a long nose, a propensity to run off on walks or a tendency towards noisiness. Not that our dogs have any of these rather unfortunate problems.... just an example, y'know.

One thing that Ulla has apparently inherited from her mother, Emmi, along with a sweet temperament, is an inclination towards whelping puppies early. Emmi's first litter, of which Ulla was one, took us quite by surprise as I had not had puppies turn up 3 days early before. You can read about that exciting event on the old blog. Her second litter came, as I recall, about a day early - not so unusual. Ulla's puppies? Four days early. FOUR!

In my early days of breeding, I always worried about puppies coming too early and suffering the various complications and problems that often beset preemies. Wait a minute - who am I kidding? I still worry about that. In fact, as the time creeps past the one-week-to-go milestone, I breathe an audible sigh of relief as I was once given the advice that puppies can probably survive if they are born as much as a week early.

You might think that Ulla's 4-days-early puppies are small, then, for newborn Lappies. Think again. They are stonking great weights. Not over-size or anything, but definitely not petite.

Ulla doesn't live here, but she does spend a lot of time at my house. Nonetheless she was determined not to have these puppies until she could find some privacy - after dark and after we were all long asleep. There had been no digging, not much in the way of panting, and certainly no evidence of contractions. She refused to settle in the whelping box. She told us in no uncertain terms that she was not ready to give birth anytime soon. And so we left her in the crate where she always sleeps when she visits. Four hours later, at 2am, Jay woke me up because he heard a little yelp. Sure enough, there was Ulla with her first puppy in the crate. She had done it all by herself with barely a squeak. We hustled mama and baby upstairs into the waiting whelping box and I settled down to wait for the next one. We were expecting about four, according to the ultrasound scan.

It was quite a wait.

In fact, by 5 am I had given up hope and was resigning myself to having only one puppy to raise and all the complications that brings. Then at 7 am she had 2 in 15 minutes and a fourth about a half hour later. Unfortunately the last puppy was stillborn. He was born without his sac, so he didn't have much of a chance. I am just grateful I have lost so few puppies over the years, but it's still a sad event, although I do believe that you cannot argue with nature.

In the end she had 3 strong and healthy girls. They are all wolf sable like their dad and granny Emmi, I think. The jury is still out on number 2 who might be black and tan like her mum. Things should be clearer in a day or two as the wolf sable coat changes so dramatically and rapidly day-to-day.

Individual puppy photos to follow shortly.

After much deliberation and consultation with various Lappy friends, I finally decided to give these puppies the litter name Sisko, as that is Finnish for "sister" - appropriate for my only all-girl group ever. As always, their new owners will get to choose their Finnish kennel names, but I decided to give them baby names after the first ever girl group. I know that the Supremes are traditionally given the credit for being the first ever girl group, but actually it was the Andrews sisters, so these puppies will be Patty, LaVerne and Maxene.

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8 weeks old

In case you ever wondered what it looks like when puppies are ready for their new homes, it looks something like this.  Mayhem reigns in the outdoor pen.  It's a bit trashed, there are a couple too many squished-in poos, there is shredded cardboard everywhere, the toys and vet beds are all a bit worn around the edges, and in the case of these particular puppies, the water bowl is up on bricks like an old jalopy.  I'm warning the new owners now, you literally cannot keep water in the water bowls. 

Many of my puppies have been water babies to one extent or another.  I've usually had at least one who would sleep snuggled up to the bowl, or with head or other body part dipped in.  Occasionally there would be a water digger.  In fact, at least two of Tuuli's last puppies are water diggers to this day.  I have assured their owners that they will grow out of it ... eventually ... we hope.

These puppies were a tad late to the water party.  I was pleased and, frankly, surprised.  You have seen their sire, Salo, right?  No?  Well, check out the videos at the very bottom of his page.  Yes, that is the father of these puppies lying in the waterfall and swimming with the goldfish in the ornamental pond. 

In the end, genetics kicked in and the puppies did discover the water bowls, and, lo, they did create a mess.  Over and over again.  It's mainly Jaakoppi and Ulla, though, so perhaps the owners of the others will be off the hook.  We will see.

Anyway, jacking the water bowl up on bricks did work briefly, but Ulla eventually delighted in finding a way to climb up there and still get her front feet in, occasionally tipping the bowl entirely over.  But often it's too much trouble, apparently, so it usually remains more or less intact. 

The indoor bowl is another matter entirely.

Tomorrow the first puppies fly the nest (or the damp pen).

lunch

We had no visitors this weekend for one reason and another.  Considering the weather, it was perhaps just as well!

However, Mark did pop by to drop off some stuff, so while he was here I took advantage of the opportunity to get a little video of the puppies having lunch.  It took all of, what, 35 seconds? 

You get the feeling they like scrambled eggs?

7 weeks old

Busy, busy, busy.

Apart from the pints of stuff that these puppies produce that needs to be cleaned up every 5 minutes, they are also now very fond of ripping things to shreds.  So the puppy pen inside & out is always a complete mess. 

The puppies have been busy socialising this week.  They have all had a little ride in the car and have visited the town centre to meet strangers & get cuddles.   The coming week will be full of more social activities and more car-time as well as vet visits for their eye tests and microchips.

They're pretty much ready for anything.  I hope their owners are.

At long last, there is an Infindigo Facebook group, so if you would like to join us, hop over there:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/infindigo/

photo shoot

Thank you to Mark Treasure for our somewhat rushed photo shoot yesterday.  We managed to grab a few shots between showers and just before it got dark.  More or less.

These puppies will have the middle name "Maila" which is a Finnish word meaning tennis racquet and also a girl's name.  If you're wondering what tennis has to do with these puppies, then have a quick look at the birth announcement.  It also explains where their baby names came from.

As usual, all these names are subject to Kennel Club approval.

Infindigo Maila Siinto
(Novak)
Siinto is a Finnish word meaning "gleaming"

Infindigo Maila Koru
(Roger)
Koru is a Finnish word meaning "jewel"

Infindigo Maila Loki
(Stan)
Loki is the Norse god of mischief

Infindigo Maila Ulla
(Serena)
Ulla is a Scandanavian girl's name

Infindigo Maila Jaakoppi
(Andy)
Jaakoppi is a Finnish boy's name

6 weeks old

Admitting defeat here.  I won't go into the series of catastrophes that we had this week, let's just say it culminated in the fridge dying yesterday (or in fact sometime before yesterday) so that we had to throw away more or less all the food inside (and clean up a rather big mess).  A quick prod later and it's in perfect working order again now.  Ever get the feeling someone is conspiring against you?

Or perhaps the culmination was actually Keskiyo getting up for a poo three times in the night last night because he had a rather wonderful fresh bone yesterday.  If you don't keep up with the fresh bones, then when they do have one, it does have this unfortunate effect.  Keep up with the fresh bones, people!

Or - horror of horrors - the culmination is yet to come!  Don't even go there.

Anyway, yesterday's photo shoot was a rather hurried affair.  And it was raining or drizzling all day so the light was terrible too.  Cue some truly awful photos!  But better than nothing, is what I'm hoping.  Right?  Right??

It has been just about all decided which puppy is going where.  I have given a choice to one person because her family has had a looooong wait for this day.  As soon as they choose, the rest will fall into place, so to speak.  Then I will be able to reveal all the names as well.  And the best news is that Mark and Jane will be visiting today and we have a photo shoot on the cards, so I'm hoping for some really terrific shots for the name-reveal.

Of course, it would help enormously if it stopped raining sometime before they get here...

busy

Took a little post-lunch video a few days ago before it started raining.  Somehow forgot to post it.  Six-week pics tomorrow.