National DOG Day

I miss having a dog for company, someone to hug, someone to talk to and yes, make me get up and walk him/her.  Since there isn't a companion here to share a photo of now, will share pictures of my departed fur babies from the past.

This is Shumba, our first Rottweiler pup at about 8 weeks.  We purchased her from a local breeder who also shows their dogs.  Her chew toy is almost as big as she is.

And here she is about 2 years old and a mother of 8.  We had her hips OFA certified to ensure healthy pups and to show potential buyers the k-9 parents' hips were certified.  Our intentions were to breed her once and have her neutered.  We were not going to ruin her health by over breeding.

Shumba was a fantastic mother.  Bruce built her a whelping pen and it was in our living room so we could watch over the group.  No way did mom want that.  She wanted to care for her brood in the basement out of the prying eyes of others.  So we made a place for her down there.

We sold 7 pups and kept one, a boy named Panzer.  He was a silly, funny dog who made me laugh all the time.  When loose in the park area behind the ball field if there was no ball to play with and they got tired chasing one another Panzer would pluck a wild flower and tease his mother with it.  Once his endeavor got him a bee sting on the nose....poor baby.

After Shumba passed we adopted Shadow from a local vet.  She was supposed to be half pure bred Rottie and pure bred German Shepherd.  Here is Shadow at 10 weeks ~ she sure looks like a Rottie doesn't she?

Then she grew up, 😏 and her behavior was 100% German Shepherd.  Her behavior changed faster than her appearance which was that of a Shepherd.

We had both Panzer and Shadow together.  As rotties are more relaxed than hyperactive  Shepherds, the elder Panzer had no patience for Shadow.  After my precious Panzer died it was me and Shadow.

Shadow was a loving dog and full of energy which Shepherds are known for.  Sadly I lost her too and she is also missed.

One day I received a phone call from the same vet from whom we adopted Shadow, asking if I was still looking for a Rottie.  Heck yeah!!!!!  In comes my boy Ben.  He was 6 years 7 months old when I adopted him.

Ben was a very affectionate and protective dog.  He was my warning system whenever anyone came into the yard.  He loved my grandson too and let folks know if they were being too rough with him or me.  Ben would growl and jump up but not bite.  And I  miss my big boy Ben a lot.

When I hear of new pets up for adoption at the local shelter I consider inquiring.  But in reality know that at my age it probably isn't wise.  Besides, I'd want another Rottweiler or Pittie and if rug camps ever begin again would have to put them in a kennel.  Not only do I NOT like putting dogs in a kennel, but most kennels don't take those breeds in.

Be kind to your beloved dogs and I do promote adoption over buying from breeders.

Saundra
www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

Remembering Shumba and Panzer

My last post was about becoming enamored with crows.  So let me tell you a little about Shumba and her boy Panzer.  Oh, the dogs' names.... my ex lived in South Africa for a few years and the Shona word for lion was Shumba.  Actually that word is for a male lion but the name my ex wanted.  So for the boy I decided since Rotties are of German heritage wanted him to be a reference to a German tank... a Panzer. 

OMG, Panzer couldn't have been further from a German tank. He had a long inseam, lol, but didn't have a bad bone in his body and wasn't a bully.  His mom Shumba took care of him.

Here is Shumba with her 8 pups and she was an excellent mother.  We purchased her from a local breeder NOT a puppy mill.  We met the father and mother of Shumba, saw they were healthy and well behaved dogs in the lineage and made our choice for the most inquisitive pup from that litter.

See that pup to the far left almost on his back?  That would be Panzer. He was notorious for getting in a submissive position on his back and have to be carried in the house.  That is until he got too big to carry.

In the photo above mom and son (Panzer on left) are playing freely at the grounds around the ball fields.   When there was a game going on and a ball went outside the field the ball players knew us and would tell Shumba to get the ball.  That she would and would give it to the player across the fence.  But here I'm sure it was Panzer who wanted to play. If he couldn't get a ball he'd pick a wild flower and tease his mom with it to play, poor guy got stung by a bee there once too.  I know that hurt my boy.  He was a goofy sweet boy.

Goofy boy has his tongue sticking out.  He had an allergy which required medication around his eye at times.  That is what you see above, they are wet from running thru the wet ball field grass.

Notice the dogs are not on a leash but in a relaxed position.   Even when we took the dogs to the fields and let them run freely, if we clapped our hands twice they would come running to us and SIT!  We trained Shumba but Panzer learned by osmosis.  They were incredible dogs.

Above is another example of a pair of socialized and well behaved Rottweilers.  Again we clapped our hands twice and they returned immediately and sat.  I took this photo of my beauties which became the focus of a rug hooked later.

I'm a wide cut hooker but hooked the above rug in #3 for the dogs and couldn't stand the thought of hooking the background in #3 so hooked that in #5.  Just as soon as that was hung on my wall I pulled out some linen and drew another pattern and they would be a #8 cut!!!!

To give you a perspective, in the top narrow cut rug Shumba measures 15 1/2" tall and Panzer measures 17" tall.  While in the primitive rug Shumba measures 14" from foot to head and Panzer measures 15" from most bottom foot to top of head.  So that just goes to show you can get some detail with a wide cut.

Tomorrow I'm going to tell you more about the first crow rug named "Eat Crow".  There is a connection between that and Panzer.  Also there is a hooking technique included in that post as well.  So come back to visit.

Saundra

Chicken Challenge Hooked

I was going to title this post "Chicken Challenge Done" but that would indicate it was also bound, which is not the case.  I was excited to have it all hooked and show you my rendition now.  Also wanted to send a picture to Woolrights so it could be placed on their blog along with the other challenge participants.  However, think Deb (the mother of the guild blog) is at Woolley Fox this week.  So when she gets home she will post the picture.

What can I say......the rug really doesn't look this busy or bright in person.  The plan was to make it look like an early hooked rug using 'what she had' and hooking in blocks which is often seen in old rugs.  All the while combining the Chicken Challenge design and a rooster design I'd admired.  Somewhere along the line my background hooking took on a life of its own.   Or at least it looks like that in the photo.

 

Oh well, plan is to not sell this one but to replace the wonderful Eat Crow rug which has graced the front of my kitchen sink since 2003.  Not sure where I'll place the Crow but it is special to me.  My departed silly and goofy Rottie Panzer thought he could fly and would try to jump and fly to catch the crow as it flew from the yard.

As you can see, the Crow has served me well over this last century with only a few minor dabs of clean ups.  Wool is very resilient and I'm sure that the Chicken Challenge rug will do well at the sink.  It IS time to give this crow guy a rest. 

 

If you would like to see what all the Chicken Challenge is about, click HERE.  When the HOME page comes up scroll over to the "MORE" link and hover.  Then look down the options and you will find the Chicken Challenge tab.  You will see the free pattern and further down the post you will see other hooked pieces done by others who wanted to participate in the challenge.  It's NOT  TOO LATE. 

 

Have a great evening everyone.  I'm making soup and going to go back to the geometric rug.  Hopefully there will be a few blocks hooked for me to show you tomorrow.

 

Saundra