About the Canines N Ewers

Vow renewal ceremony

Ron and I just returned from our (what seems to be becoming) our annual trip to Las Vegas. The purpose of this trip is to RELAX after the snowbirds trial and of course see George Strait in concert! Another idea I had was to renew our wedding vows after 10 years or marriage...This came as a surprise to Ron!!! The reasoning behind this is like many others (I'm sure) we have had our ups and downs in the past 10 years. I thought after 10 years we deserved to start on another clean slate and remind each other what is important Needless to say we had a really great time!!!

Just adorable!

Now I am back at it with the dogs. A week off never hurts them!  I am working some really nice youngsters.
I have Poncho and Lane (2 year nursery dogs  off  Jesse and Sweep).

K9znewe"Poncho"

Poncho was my original pick, and Lane was purchased back when original owner couldn't keep him! Amazing how this dog whom had never laid eyes on a sheep in 13 months...went right to work with good method. I offered Lane for sale because I had Poncho and Pearl (pearl is the one we lost in the ranch accident). It was almost like people didn't believe me on how nice of a dog Lane is..Like there is no way he can be nice because I am not keeping him...people are weird..the only reason the dog was for sale is because we have 15 dogs in our kennel. So I have decided to keep Lane and put him on the roster as one of my nursery dogs for this and or next year!!!

K9znewe"Lane"

Another dog in the cue is Kori..she is a young bitch by K9znewe"Gunner" off of a bitch Matt Cook owns named Jules. Kori is coming along at 15 months old. She is a bit over the top about sheep pressure and thinks farm flock is for dummies. I do like her feel and her style...but she is going to be a bit slow as I wait for more maturity! She is best when worked on fine wools..too smart for her own good!!

"Kori" (aka koo koo)

Later this summer we will be getting Chip underway who  is same way bred (different litter)  as Kori, but quite a bit more dog. Ron doesn't know it yet, but he is gonna have to choose a nursery dog, otherwise I will be able to fill a nursery class myself...(is that legal??)!!!

K9znewe"Brite, Fan, &Plaid" (The new meaning of nursery!)

Our lambing season is all over...everyone lambed well and we now have 25 new lambs. We lamb the fine wools in December and Dorper's in January. Glad to have this done.

"Sly"(aka Bug) wondering wt?)

So the training facility is in full swing..getting ready for some spring trials. Zamora hill trial will be the first on our agenda, then unless we find something else we will head to Oregon in May. We will have our farm flock trial in July...that will be here sooner than we think!!

Signing off..until the next blab...Happy herding...Happy Wife...Happy Life!!!

And..."Away They Go"!

Trial sheep all loaded up to head East to their lavish alfalfa fields!

Another year has passed! Snowbirds will go down in the record books! The trial went off without a hitch..(not saying I wasn't sick to my stomach for the 3 days prior to it!) We had help...this was big! I never lost my temper, nor did Ron..And for once I was able to put down some solid runs with my dogs! It's always fun to see everyone arriving for the big day...this year was no exception..we had a lot of dogs entered!! The sheep had been pastured, rehearsed, and relaxed!

Sheep on the move during a relaxing off day!

The fields were in top notch condition...

Trial field!

the runs were extremely competitive...Soot won the second go round with a top notch score of 100 out of 110! Sly ran with a tough 92. Couldn't be happier with the girls!!!
Each night after the trial we met up at the house where Ron and I prepared dinner for 25 people...crew members and friends!! It was always a good time!!

We thank each and everyone of you for running, and helping! From the bottom of our hearts we welcome you all anytime and we thank you again for helping make our trial successful!!!

Me and My Love!!!

Hustle and Bustle

Ron and I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. Its a tough time of year for us because we have the dog trial to put on. This year is particularly hard because the trial starts directly after Christmas.

Side trip to Calico!

It's been a hard year overall, lots of things happening on the ranch, and then an OVER-ABUNDANCE of entries for the dog trial. We have made some new friends and lost some old ones. We have shed tears of joy and tears of sorrow.

I am married to a man whom I don't deserve...who sticks with me through thick and thin. I have tested his patience this year too. I understand how lucky I am, although I don't often enough express that.

We lost our great Ram Willie...and it went downhill from there. We lost lambs in the freezing mud, and we lost a beloved young dog Pearl in a tragic accident on the ranch.

RIP- "Pearl"

It's been hard for me to wrap my head around Christmas, and the dog trial. Our hearts are broken from the loss of pearl, just 4 short weeks ago.

We had a beautiful litter of puppies that have turned out to be my savior. They helped me keep my head when I was losing it over the past month.

The babies!!

Puppies are Sweep x Soot and have gone to their new homes (Well with the exception of our 3!!) Brite, Plaid, and Fan!!! These puppies saved me!

Here's hoping that 2012 brings us more positive than negative.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL- The Ewers

R. I. P. "Willie"

Will is the Dorper Ram (Black head)

Tonight we had to "put down" our dorper ram.  He has been with us 5 years and had personality galore..plus...he was the leader of the pack. Louie the cheviot is the eldest of "the boys" however he let Willie call the shots. Whatever will wanted he got, wherever willie went they all went!!(Not limited to sneaking the neighboring fence for the green grass).

Tuesday Willie went off his food, we noticed he was not urinating.  This happened to the eldest "Louie" about 3 years ago, so "we had the supplies". Confidently he was drenched each night with ammonium Chloride and given antibiotics. Up until last night he was back and forth on his food and still willing to "fight the drench". We decided last nigh to bring him to the barn; we didn't want him sick and in the cold wet weather.  He ate some last night, however this morning he was DOWN...not only down but wouldn't budge. We watched him all day, and when we went to feed his head was flat on the floor and he was shaking in discomfort. Ron and I both knew he had hit the  suffering in pain point. One more injection... and no change after 4 hours. Breathing was labored, eyes had the look of pain..

We had to make the choice; he wasn't going to die on his own heart was far too strong,  if he was going to die he wasn't giving up easily. He would have suffered through the night and the end result was going to be the same. With heavy hearts and tearful eyes..the gun shots rang...Thank god Ron knows what he is doing and Willie would suffer no longer.

Just remember when things always look of rainbows and roses, you visit, pet, work...the behind the scenes operation is not always fun and rarely rewards the hardest of hearts or the softest of hearts. Again we press on and will seek out a new boy, however it will be hard to find one that can fill these hooves.

RIP Willie...Dodge and Louie will be lost without you.

Time winds down..

Happy

Day!!!! 

Traditional Turkey Day at the Ewers...brings friends and family from afar!! We will have a feast, however "Leo" (as shown above) will be spared! We will have 20 or so people for the feast Ron will put the turkey's in the ground pit which will be just DELISH!!! So from our house to yours..I hope you have a wonderful, thankful, day!

Ours for a month...

View of our trial field

As most people know Ron and I have a full time ranch hand at Canines N Ewe. Why? (sometimes I even wonder) ...but we have him because...WE WORK! We have a full time kennel, 100 head of sheep, and plenty of "other creatures" big and small! Is the job difficult? Well no if you have 8 free hours of the day. Daily duties consist of checking sheep in the morning, grazing sheep in the afternoon, and letting young dogs out to relieve themselves once daily...Leon does a mediocre job of taking care of the sheep, does a great job at handling and caring for dogs...(that's the reason he has a job...still). Every year we give Leon the month of November off so he can go home to New Mexico and visit family..

Babe our dinner

Llucy our "flock guard"

So....This is it!! Ron and I are in charge!! Yeah for a whole month, I don't have someone besides Ron in our house YEAH YEAH YEAH!!!! Menu for dinner will be fish sticks and fries !!!  So yes it's a big busy month, besides having the ranch to ourselves, which brings a tremendous work load, we are lambing, we have a clinic, students on Wed. and Sat., we are having 20 for Thanksgiving Dinner, and don't forget we are trying to get the logistics of the Snowbirds Trial underway!! We never complain about work load, but I am happy to say, I cannot wait to see my hubby at the barnyard, for some well needed laughter and fun!!

Sunday..not a day of rest...a day of fullfillment..

Sundays are my favorite day!! The only thing that is wrong with Sunday is it precedes Monday (the worst day!) Sunday is "our" day meaning Ron and I get to go work our dogs together and relax! Rarely do I extend lessons to people on Sunday's so it makes it my only day off during the week. Working 6 days a week gets old..but it pays the bills!! I snapped some shots of a normal "Sunday" for us..not a lot to write...so I just thought I would share! Ron and I generally take 11 dogs to the field on Sunday..they don't necessarily all work, however they must learn to chain up and relax!!

Suede, Lace, Pearl and Sweep

Jesse, chip and Soot

Those who bark are not welcome field side..

Hi I'm Callie and  I bark a lot, there is no cure for my barking disease..

 A good days work had by all...

Moss the Mountain  loves his work!

 

 

A few others were in need of "lay off tune ups...

And the only time she is not barking...

Well after all there is some rest necessary...

Ron and Poncho found time to watch a movie!

So another great Sunday followed up with a mundane Monday...but only makes you look forward to the next time.. Until then Happy Herding!!!