Me today

Did you guys see the blood moon?

Yesterday:

You know when the moma pig comes to greet you after she's just escaped her enclosure... I would love to have a pig or two in the future! They are lovely animals. I am not a vegetarian however I try to avoid meat and aspecially pig and chicken. Since the industry is so horrible.. We try to eat local meat and wild game, since those animals are free until killed. They are not bred in a tiny cage with stress and no stimulation. It is more expensive, but totally worth it.  AND of course I eat vege food at times. It is good and feels good.

Correction!

In a former post I wrote about the blue gsd NOT being an approved color! BUT the breeder just informed me that in Germany blue is indeed acknowledged! And steel blue is even approved here in Sweden by dogjudges! However the color is SO rare, that most doubt this to be true! And since Germany is home to the gsd, they should have the right to set the stadards. I don't know the "rules" in other countries for gsd colors?

Like I debated in my previous post about this subject, I don't care what's approved or not, as long as the dog is healthy. But people are spreading false accusations. And this leads to dogs being unwanted :( Really sad, that a dog can be liked based on what some people set as standards.

Nighty all followers out there

Lovely puppies!

 I can't stop posting pictures! I like them so much. Their mother reminds me of Zeke <3 And the blue color is so eye catching. It is debated in diffrent GSD forums if the blue gene brings health issues to the dog. There is however no evidence that suggests that blue colored dogs are more likely to have health issues due to the color itself. I read a lot of information so that I can get a clearer vision on the subject and try to avoid supporting unhealthy dogs. The breeding of dogs is already in so many ways disturbing.. I will post some information below about the blue gene or "Dilution gene"!

The Dilution Gene

The D locus controls the intensity of eumelanin in the coat (and also the eyes/nose/etc). 

The dilution gene occurs on the D locus. It is recessive, so d is dilute and D is non-dilute, and in order for a dog to be dilute it must have the genotype dd. A dog that is Dd or DD will have normal (non-dilute) pigment.

The dilution gene affects eumelanin (black and liver), although phaeomelanin (red) may be lightened as well. When a dog has two copies of the d allele, a black dog will become blue (aka slate) and a liver (chocolate) dog becomes isabella (aka lilac). A blue or isabella can have any coat pattern, but whatever they have, any black or liver in the coat will be turned to blue or isabella. It is genetically impossible for a blue dog to have any black in its coat, or for an isabella to have liver.

The main giveaway that a dog is a dilute is generally its nose colour. The coat may be entirely sable or recessive red for example, but if the dog has a blue nose, it is genetically blue-pigmented.

Blue nose and black nose

Dilution and Health

It's often claimed that dilute dogs are less healthy than those with normal pigment. This misconception has most likely come from the prevalence in some breeds of a condition known as Colour Dilution Alopecia (CDA). Colour Dilution Alopecia is in fact the result of a faulty version of the d allele, known as d^l. Not all breeds carry this faulty allele, and the majority of blues and isabellas are completely healthy. See the Health Problems page for more information on CDA. (Source)

So with this said, I don't see anything wrong with the blue dogs. I can however say that I will never support the "pure breed" gsds that have a sloping back. The pure breeders (most of them) themself do NOT approve of blue, white or liver colored shepherds and many are actually put down only cause of this. It is not a color in line with the "breeding standards" and so the animal is not wanted. They argue that most dogs without papers are bred from breeders that doesn't know what they are doing. And I can agree on some level that breeders not always now what they are doing, but that is not depending on whater or not the breeders breed pure or not. That is just from human stupidity! I think responsible breeding isn't performed enough in purebreeds for it to be considered "the better choice".

You can argue that the same greed that charecterizes breeders of pure dogs are seen in my search of a blue gsd. Well, it is an aesthetic question. I like the color - therefore want the dog. To my deffense! I'd like to say that I find gsds very active and functional dogs. At least the working dog. It has in some ways many similaritys of their ancestor, the wolf which I think at least gives the dog both functional advantages as well as aestethical. The wolf is one of the most beautiful creatures and all dogs derives from it. So in my opinion a dog that resembles the wolf feels more natural even though it actually is bred from humans.

And then again, I am not totally against pure breeding. I am against to let animals suffer. It is not necessary for dogs to suffer just so we can get a dog that LOOK a certain way. If a blue german shepherd would have health issues I would've never wanted it.

My beautiful Zeke is a black gsd and he is not pure bred. I have no paper and yet he has a damage on his shoulder (some might even argue that he has this condition due to not being pure), so I am aware that the risk of a damage and illness can never be completely avoided. Many pure breeds are very healthy! I can't argue with that. But to remove perfectly healthy puppies simply cause they don't fit the standards disgusts me. And the fact that some breeds can't breed, walk, eat or live normal! It is sad. As an example just look at the picture of the blue nose above. Look how tight the nostrils are? Imagine breathing through that.

Goodnight

So today has been a really bad one. I have messed things up with my medicine and that made me go this third day without any at all. Have horrible abstinence.. Feel sick. Have slept like a baby for most of the day. Now I will cuddle up with my doggies and watch LOTRs. The cats are out this night. I usually want to get them inside for the night, but it is really hot and the air is heavy and nauseous inside, even though I have the window open. So I guess it is much nicer to be outside in the cool night air.

Nacho lunch with my brother!

Yesterday:

Puppies!

Update:

So, I wrote to the breeder and she agreed that it wasn't the most optimal timing for us to get a puppy right now. BUT the great news is that she is planning to take a litter next spring with her own female and the same male! So we will go and see her and the dogs as soon as Alex is home again. So that the breeder gets a chance to meet us and we a chance to meet the mother and the puppies. But from what she read about Alex and me she said that she definitely wanted to keep contact with us. Let's hope for the best! And that we are ready next year for a little baby :)

I've mailed the breeder

Oh dear, am I spending my days watching these babies? No.... Not at all..
I just want it! It is two gray babies, one is already spoken for.. Gaah, I wants it :(
But I know that we have soo many animals already and you have to be able to give each and everyone of them their time. The more animals the less time is left to spend on each individual.
Blue germanshepherds are so rare and so beautiful, but if that is the only argument it is no good reason to get a puppy. BUT then again. Zeke has a bad shoulder, which is going to get worse over time. He will not be "an old dog" as the vet put it. We don't know how much time he has. At the moment he is happy, excited, and willing to live. But it might come a day when it hurts too much. Fenja is used to have dog company, so I think she would be unhappy as a lone dog. Alex and I have been talking back and forth about what our next dog would be. We've been talking about a wide range of dogs.. Wolfdog, blue gsd, great dane, English mastiff. Yea, you get it. Very diffrent kinds of dogs. From the most complicated and demanding breeds, to the simpler, lazyier ones.
We've always said that we wouldn't get another dog until Zeke has passed.. Two dogs is kind of a good number for two humans. And Zeke has a problem with aggression that we don't want the puppy to learn. Fenja on the other hand can be a little barky but always nice. So she hasn't learned too much bad behaviour from Zeke. In fact, there are a lot of things I wish she could learn from him! Like never stealing food and never jump on people! Never destroy anything in the home. (Fenja have massacred her dogbeds a few times..) Well I don't know why I write all my concerns here. We can't afford it. We should not get another dog. That is what my brain says. But my heart is filled with puppy love :(

Blue German Shepherd

 I so badly want a blue gsd! I've fallen in love! And now I found blue babies in Sweden! OMG! And Alex has almost promised me that we can go and have a look at them when he comes home. I know, we can't have more animals now.. But is't a blue gsd!? They are so hard to come by.. If the parents are healhy and mentally stable I might have to steal one of them :O And hide it from Alex.. He won't notice....

Rainey day

No makeup today.. It is like the titel says, a rainey day today. Me and the catboys are watching movies and just a while ago Fenja and I went for a long walk in the forest. I felt like Princess Mononoke ;D I saw a third eye cow!