postheadericon EXTENDED FAMILY

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postheadericon Extended Family

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postheadericon Extended Families

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postheadericon One Smart Cavalier

 

I have so much to catch up on posting to this blog.  I am amazed at how many people read my blog and then email me to find out if I am okay as there have been no new posts for a long time.  I am crazed with all the preparations to move our dogs from the former Rattlebridge Farm to our new Rattlebridge FARMLETT (If that is a real word).  Our farm will hit MLS this week;  Cindy Yeager, my sainted Boxer friend who has long taken care of our Cavaliers, and I have been taking turns staying at the farm getting it ready to sell and taking care of our dogs.  The hold up has been getting the dog living arrangements ready at our new home and all is now ready after five months of bad weather.  We have turned one of our all reason rooms into the dog living area and our other all reason room into our family room for dogs and us.  Both are lovely rooms with my  must have TV’s with DVR so I do not have to miss American Idol (yes I rooted for David Cook from the first moment he opened his mouth!!!) because I adore the surly, sarcastic, and very handsome Simon Cowell!  Reminds me of my Brooklyn relatives sporting a different dialect! Both of the all season rooms are heated and cooled and have lots and lots of windows with pretty views; they open up to the same large deck which feeds into our new very large patio which then feeds into a large area with new playground mulch which will adjoin a fenced lawn when we can get to it.  Not the acres of lawn our Cavaliers have had in the past, but certainly sufficient for our downscaled operation.  We still plan to breed our wonderful Cavaliers.

Cavaliers are so very versatile; show dogs, obedience dogs, therapy dogs, agility dogs, lap dogs, hiking dogs, food stealing dogs, and now diabetes alert dogs.  Please read the following from one of my puppy owners, Carmen Nicklaus, about her little “Julie:’

 

carmen julie 2

“Julie is taking a nap and snoring here by me while I am on the PC.
Can you believe she will be 7 in October? She is the best little Blenheim ever. And listen to this; she has a certain pitch of bark when I have a low blood sugar and she has prompted me several times to quit what I am doing
and go test my blood sugar and every time it is 60 or less!!

She has saved me from a disaster more than once. I have developed a condition called
hypoglycemia unawareness as a complication of having had diabetes over 44
years. In recent years, people have been training helper dogs to warn
diabetics and or their significant others of low blood sugars. One yellow
lab even goes and fetches the blood sugar machine and gets “his” diabetic
child’s mom up in the middle of the night to treat the child. I guess it
costs about 25 thou to train such a dog–and here my Julie does it on her
own. She does not fetch my glucose machine, but she has this distinctive
bark and she will not stop barking until I heed her and go check my blood
sugar. She has never been wrong and I just realized it recently as I am home
alone with the dogs a lot and I get low and then I get confused and cannot
even think to go check. But since I realized what she was doing, she has
saved me a few 911 calls to say the least. Isn’t that cool?”

Thank you for sharing, Carmen!

postheadericon Late in posting this sad loss :

Agil2double[1] From Annette Houdek, the owner of one of the very talented and very sweet Rattlebridge dogs:  Ch. Rattlebridge Over the Top, a great agility dog and great Cavalier.  Thank you to Annette for all she did to bring out his many qualities.  She chose him at eight weeks, earlier than I let most puppies go, so that he would develop into the Cavalier he became.  I loved him AOrbitall[1]also and was terribly proud of him. 

CH. MACH. RATTLEBRIDGE OVER THE TOP UD.
U-ACHX,U-CDX,EAC,EGC,OJC,AD,WWKCRN
” ORBIT ”
12-15-98 – 3-4-08

Orbit has joined all of my other special dog friends at the Rainbow Bridge.
He is happy, running fast, young again, and feeling no pain.
Since the first day that I brought Orbit home, I knew he would give me the
ride of a lifetime, and he did!  Everything he did was over the top.
We had many special moments together, but the most exciting for him was
going to the beach.  He loved to swim, so much so that I bought him his own
pool.  He would stand on his platform and when I launched his ball, he would
fly in the air and land halfway across the pool to retrieve it.
No matter what we did, or where we went together, we had fun.
His heart may have failed him, but his spirit still remains.

postheadericon HAPPY EASTER

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL!!!!!!  May our Lord smile upon you on this celebration of His Resurrection and His gift of Salvation.  Today I went to Mass at St. Mary’s in Delaware, Ohio, which was one of the churches of my childhood.  We lived in Delaware for three years upon our arrival from Brooklyn and Long Island, New York.  We moved every three years. I went to school at St. Mary”s in Delaware.  My father moved us to Ohio to open up a new Midwest territory for the Spicene Company located in New Jersey; Dad made huge money for those days and he excelled at his job until his compulsive gambling got the better of him.  Dad moved us to Ohio because there were more thoroughbred race tracks in Ohio than any other state. We bought our first string of Thoroughbreds while in Delaware;I grew up partially at race tracks as Dad and I shared the same passion for horses and racing often staying up night talking about horses and planning strategy. Horses were my life and losing them has made a permanent hole in my heart; my father left a much bigger hole as we were extremely close and I still miss him almost fifty years later.

There was no help for compulsive gambling in those days and at the end my father had gambled all of our financial resources away. He died at forty five leaving my mother and five kids in really dire financial straights.  I was fifteen when Daddy died; our youngest brother was three.  My mother leaned on me for everything.  People so often think I am so tough, but we had to be tough to make it and with the grace of God we did all make it.

At Mass today, I could see my father kneeling in Church in our first parish in Ohio.  Enough of reminiscing which I seem to be doing more and more in my later years.

My friend Melissa Charbonneau and her darling mother Mona are visiting during spring break so Melissa could tour Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware; Melissa had an interview with the Admissions officer which went extremely well.  Melissa has many options for college when she graduates next year, but her plan has been to go to Ohio Wesleyan and live with us as she shares my passion for Cavaliers and may bully me into showing a bit again.  Who knows what the future will be.  We will have to see what Melissa will decide; she has always wanted to go into medicine and although Ohio Wesleyan has a very strong premed program with nearly all of its premed students getting into med school, She is also considering Ohio State University which would also allow her to live here. Melissa is considering all her options.  Al and I do want her to come here as we have become her second set of parents.  She has a wonderful Cavalier who we think will grow up and become a champion, Rattlebridge Dusk Bunny, as she is by Clooney, our beautiful Ch. and Ch.  Rattlebridge From Dusk ‘Til Dawn.

Well my Faulkner stream of conscientiousness (spell check says word is correct, does not look right to me, but too lazy to get a dictionary) is over for today.  Happy Easter everyone!  May our dear Lord bless you all.

 

postheadericon March 5, 2008

Our life has been in an uproar with our moving house.  We got possession on January 28th and the fun began!!–and what fun it has been.  We hired painters to paint (now I should be able to paint, but when I paint I get paint everywhere, mostly on me clear through to my underwear creating my new look in multicolored bras) We hired tile guys to put down really stunning porcelain tile in the rooms of the house which were not already tiled leaving only the bedrooms to worry about with sneaky little Cavaliers.  We hired a decorator just to put up the Staffordshire dog wall border that I have hoarded for 11 years for some reason never putting it up in our former home.  I guess I knew this home was waiting.  We love this house and its setting, truly love it.  The only flies in the ointment are that the dog yards are not finished due to weather and that we have not even had time to  get our former house and farm ready to sell. We moved in on February 21 and it has been non stop since.  Only a few of the dogs are with us as we have no fencing yet; we have barricaded the deck which connects the doors to the all season room that is going to be our dog room and the all season room which is already the family room/dog room. While the deck is an adequate size clip_image001for the dogs to potty, we really want to be able to let our dogs run as they always have. Soon we hope!

 

 

 

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These are two pictures of the outside of our new home.  It is so open and airy on the inside with two master bedrooms with their own baths on the main floor. Upstairs is an office loft with wrap around office set up, a bedroom with another complete office set up, huge attic rooms which could be finished as additional rooms, a guest bedroom and full bath.  It truly is the house for us.  We found it accidentally, and were under contract with all financing within two days. The way things happened could only be the work of God as I was so ready for a change and this house was the necessary impetus I needed.  I love my Cavaliers and still want to breed, but not on the scale we have done in the past with the search for the next great show dog or producer. For some reason, after all our success, joy and heartache of breeding and showing purebred dogs, I have lost my drive to succeed at the level that was so important to me in the past. There are so many interests that Al and I want to pursue together and independently right now; Al is my main concern  and I do not want to regret losing time with him because of the heavy show and judging travel schedules that have been my life in the past.  Al and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary last Monday.  I cannot believe the years have gone so fast.  I got married later in life and Al has been my only husband.  It certainly has been better than following my original plan to go into the convent; I would have never been able to follow all, or to be truthful, any of the rules.  Just ask my poor husband!

Our biggest worry right now is selling our farm. Carrying two mortgages is going to get old fast. The housing market is absolutely awful here.  We have a great realtor who has been our friend for many years and we have a great property to sell, but the market is awful right now.  Ohio is one of the leading states in foreclosures and still new houses are being built all the time.  We have subdivisions standing empty.  The economy is really not good here with so many companies moving or closing and so many jobs being cut.  I pray that our next president will be blessed with the capability to put us back on track, address the many issues challenging us, and keep the good of our country and its future foremost in his or her mind rather than political party or personal gain.  May our next president have the courage, the fortitude, and the ability to truly chart a new course for us.  Would you not like to go shopping to buy products “made in America” rather than other countries.  I cannot believe how few product seem to be made in our own country!  We really do need a new direction!

As soon as we get our new home organized and really livable with most of the little odds and ends completed, I will be moving back to the old house where my friend Cindy has been staying with my dogs; when I planned on living in the old house to take care of the dogs and get the house ready to sell, our friend Cindy said she and her Boxers would move in and stay so that I could go with Al.  I do so appreciate her kindness;  I am up there to see our dogs every day, but am frantically busy here putting finishing touches on this house.  I am so ADD that I am always in a frenzy trying to find this or that in the upheaval of unpacking boxes.  I just get everything in order and one of us brings up another load of boxes.  My local friends have been so wonderful helping all they can despite their busy schedules.  

On a different note, more and more anti dog and anti breeding legislation is being introduced throughout our country.  If we do not band together and fight for the right to breed and own dogs and without so many specific breeds being banned, we must be afraid that dog breeding and maybe dog ownership will be challenged at every level.  It is the PETA goal, buried in their manifesto, to end the ownership of animals. With PETA’a organization, money, and political clout,, PETA along with the Humane Society of the United States, must be challenged as to their beliefs, practices, and actions. Please become proactive in this fight.  Keep up with what your elected officials are doing in your community and state before it is too late to fight back. 

Until next time… may God bless!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

postheadericon February 7, 2008

 

It has been brought to my attention that I have not written in over a month, but we have been so busy with trying to move and really running two households.  On top of this, I got my usual acute bronchitis and wound up in the emergency room.  Two weeks of being down really gets one behind.

Anti dog legislation is heating up in many States including Ohio.  Oklahoma has a real fight on its hands. Renee Bruns appeals for  help in defeating this legislation:

“Please help us kill this bill.  Please write, call, email the Oklahoma House
Agriculture Committee.  Help us give them the ammunition they need to kill
the bill.  Contact information and a sample letter is pasted below.  We
really need your help in this nationwide war with the Animal Rights
Activists.  We have to unite in this war.  As Peggy has so often pointed
out, they are going city by city, state by state and they are well organized
and funded.  Please also sign our petition:”
http://www.oaia.bravehost.com 

And from California:

There is an informal poll being taken about the recent LA City Council 
Spay/Neuter ordinance which was pushed by the Animal Rights people.  Please  go to
the following link and vote NO to register your disapproval.

_From  the Desk of Ed Boks: LA City Council approves Spay/Neuter  Ordinance!_
http://laanimalservices.blogspot.com/2008/02/la-city-council-passes-spayneuter.html

 

The following report from Peggy Mickelson:

The Los Angeles City Council passed a spay and neuter ordinance  today. The
vote was 11 to 1 in favor. It was all preordained as some of the  council
members were wearing signs that said that they support it before the
meeting started. Nothing like being impartial. The supporters had lots of people
there including the “wonderful” Bob Barker. They also had some vets in the  city’s
employ that testified that it is fine to neuter puppies at 4 months or  even
earlier and that they could be reproducing by 6 months. Have you ever had a
bitch in season by 6 months? There were quite a few people there in opposition,
but I haven’t heard if any Cavalier fanciers attended.

Folks, if we don’t get out  en masse to oppose these things,
we have no right to complain.   I try my best to post all the things you
need to know,and Susan, Maureen, Renee, and others post too…just remember…you may not be bothered if mandatory spay neuter laws pass in a place where you do not
live…but every time one of these laws is passed, it just means you are a step closer
to having the same thing pass where you live…WHEREVER that is…and don’t think it
can’t happen to you!   Some of you are young enough that if all these Animal
Rights people have their way, you will find it impossible to own an animal by the time you are retired from work.

No one can continue to ignore these laws and leave the fighting to others.
Well, maybe you can, if you don’t care if you are allowed to ever breed another litter,
or own a dog or bitch that isn’t spayed/neutered, or whether you are allowed to own a dog at all…ever.

Believe me…the goal of these fanatics is no animal ownership at all….if
it doesn’t bother you that they want the world to be vegans, maybe the thought of never having a dog or cat or bird again, or seeing a cow or horse or goat or pig, (never mind eating meat

And an update on Louisville, Kentucky:

For those of you who were wondering what is  happening in Louisville, KY, the
Louisville Kennel Club has now added  information on its website. You can
view the newly passed animal ordinance  (better, but still has
problems-although all animals entering the city for  less than 30 days are
exempt, as is state property) at the Legislative link  (bottom of left hand
menu). You can read the Motion for Summary Judgment in  our civil rights suit
at the Litigation link (bottom of left hand menu too).  The Louisville Kennel
Club’s website is:   www.louisvillekenneClub’s

The list of communities, cities, states considering anti breeding legislation and/or threatening dog ownership is growing.  Please help us defeat these bills.  Ohio still has Senate Bill 173 and HB 223 in process.  I have been involved in forming the Ohio Federation of Dog Clubs which hopefully can unite us in the fight against the formation of a kennel authority to oversee breeding in our state. 

Make sure you check out what is going on in your community.

On another note, Rattlebridge Breath of Dawn is getting ready to have her first litter.  The sire will be our Ch. Rattlebridge Code Red.  This will be the last litter born at our present home, the wonderful Rattlebridge Farm. We expect all rubies.  I hope to keep a couple as my beloved Wendy, Ch. Rattlebridge Dutch Treat, the only wholecolor ROM in this country to my knowledge, is aging so I am keeping grandchildren and of course our wonderful Code Red (Dew), her son.I am very nostalgic about the great dogs that we have produced over the years here.  I have such mixed feelings about leaving, but know that at this time in our lives, especially in Al’s as we deal with his form of liver cancer and the continued radiation for his skin cancer which is not easily going into remission. There is a line on the flyleaf of one of Albert Payson Terhune’s books about his famous Sunnybank collies:  “the kennels of Sunnybank are empty now.”  I often think of that phrase as we have placed a few of our older dogs so they could have their own pillows on the beds of their new owners.  We have had some hard decisions to downsize, but hopefully we will be successful in continuing our breeding program on a smaller scale for now. We certainly will continue to welcome visitors at our new Rattlebridge.

postheadericon Happy New Year!!!

All of us at Rattlebridge wish you a very Happy New Year!  This is an election year and change may be in our future.  We have so many issues to work on in our country that sometimes it might seem hopeless to tackle them all; but there is always hope that our country can pull together and address the critical problems that face us as a nation and put the welfare of our country and its citizens before the welfare of the corporate world and our elected politicians.  One can always hope . . . 

The Ohio State vs LSU football game is on tonight.  I have always disliked sports, except for horses and dog showing;  I became an elementary school principal instead of a secondary principal because middle and high school principals must attend a myriad of sports activities;  I wanted no part of Friday Night Lights!!!  However, I am now a big convert to Ohio State football and especially Jim Tressel, our awesome coach.  I still do not understand football, but I am fast becoming an OSU zealot!!!!!

For anyone interested, we have a couple of darling ruby puppies for sale–puppies I normally would have kept, but with moving, it is impossible for us to keep all the puppies that we feel may be for the show ring.  So we have decided to offer them as pets.  We closed on our new house next week.  We have become good friends with the former owners who are trying to help us prepare the new house while they are still in possession. Cavalier yards must be created; fencing must go up, and of course the house must be readied for the onslaught of the patter of multiple feet.  We all will adjust.  Al and I are truly in love with our new home and can’t wait to move in, although he is quite pleased that he will be in residence before I as I stay here to raise puppies and prepare our house for sale.  I do get a break in January as I go to Charleston, S.C. to judge.  I am taking an extra day there to enjoy the warmth I hope as we are having a taste of real winter here–snow and all.  We are in no ways as badly hit as the east coast, but we do have quite a bit of snow on the ground. 

postheadericon October 20, 2007 finally posting more extended family pictures!!!!

nicole3.jpgBailey and Grandma BevBailey Easter 2006 (16)

Bailey 2006     

  

 

 

baker family benniegracie20062 Bill&Trudywithdogs

 

 

 

 

Booties billgracie2005 Buster-27s-Christmas-wish  Casey's cav's

cav

dogwalk2

 

 

 

 

 

Brandon CRW_2777

ferrari1

 

 

 

ferrari Freckles graciepenny

 

 

 

 

Group Picture

 harwood april 3

 

Buster-and-Candle-Reunited DCP_2934family

ferrari 2ferrari1  Candle and Ally2

 

 

 

graciepenny

DCP_2934 Halloween 014

 

Henry & Gracie 2.14 HPIM0680 I Know That Other Sock Is In Here Somewhere

 

 

 

 

IMG_0372IMG_0212 IMG_0376_thumb1_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb

 

 

 

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moose on tiedye

 

 

 

 

 

Park City UT 8_2007 (112)

Riley in flightquesttunnelbest

 

 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving  Dempseysheldon dog 1

tedbengracie2005

 

 

 

 

WINSTON JULY 06 - 3 YRS OLD

Too Much Playing

 

 

 

 

tunnel2

 

Some of these photos may be duplicates to others posted.  I am trying to use all the photos that I think I have not posted in this new format of the blog.  Keep sending those photos of my babies!!!