During the whirlwind of selecting and placing Joni’s and Grace’s puppies with some new owners, our home was blasted with an unusually cold (for the Fort Worth area) winter storm with prolonged cold temperatures and snow. I have lived in or near Fort Worth most of my life and have never experienced cold like that before. It was in the single digits for days, down to one degree at times. The roads were dangerous for a few days. We aren’t prepared for that kind of weather here. We were without electricity for three days. I was out of propane for heat for three weeks. Worst of all- I had no water for three weeks. My collies had fun playing in the 5+ inches of snow we got, but mostly the dogs all stayed inside with me. The temperature in the house stayed in the 40’s for several days. The dogs didn’t seem to mind. Thank God I didn’t have baby puppies. That would not have worked. Tiny puppies have to be warm. I wore at least three layers of clothes and occasionally got in my van with the heater on to warm up and charge my phone. The phone and the collies were my entertainment– which was fine. When the electricity came back on, things were better. I could microwave snow to make water and use space heaters and an electric blanket for some warmth. Having no running water was a pain. I had a limited supply of bottled water, and it was very hard to come by at the local stores. It seemed like the collies drank a ton of water. My kids, my brother, and a nice neighbor brought me water when it was most needed. I was almost to the point of giving my dogs some unsweetened tea to drink, but it didn’t come to that. My little neighborhood is served by two community wells and both of their pumps burned up when everything froze. They got the pumps replaced in about a week, but as water began to flow, my garage began to flood- a lot! The water company had to turn my water off until I could get a plumber to come. Wow. Plumbers were very hard to get. Luckily, I got on the list for Brian’s Plumbing. I found their card my husband Mike had saved. It took weeks for them to come, but when they did it was a couple of guys that looked like Vikings coming to battle. They fixed the pipes in the garage in less than an hour. I held my breath as they turned the water back on… Nothing else in the house leaked. The damage was limited to the garage. The plumber’s fee was very reasonable and I had water again! The same day I got a full tank of propane. Things were pretty much normal again. God answered my prayers. I know a lot of people had it much worse. My collies and I got through the super cold snap just fine. I’m sure my ancestors dealt with much worse.

All of Grace’s and Joni’s pups are in their permanent homes now. I kept Anna that I am now calling Annie. She is such a pretty girl. I’m very excited about her. I wanted to keep some of the other babies, but it wasn’t practical. I think almost all the pups have show potential. Canadian Jax seemed to be the right boy for Grace and Joni.

Here are recent pix of some of the Grace and Joni puppies sired by Jax.

Meanwhile in Spicewood, Texas at Lea Bertsch’s house, another litter of beautiful puppies about a week younger than my pups has been growing up. I finally got to see the Maxi and Lucas litter. I think they are beautiful! All sables. Lea may have one pup left that she would part with to someone that wants to show or have their pup shown. They are really promising! More news and photos to come on those guys.

Also we have had some great results at recent dog shows and I’ll put that on my next blog soon.

And I am currently on puppy watch! Our white factored, sable merle champion, Amber is due to have puppies any day now sired by handsome Canadian Jax (sire of Grace and Joni’s litters.) I will post news about Amber’s babies too when they arrive. I am whelping her litter, and Lea will be raising the puppies at her home in Spicewood. Amber looks big with puppies, but bunches of her puppies are already spoken for. I just pray all goes well.