Critters

The Puppies Turn One!

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I absolutely can’t believe it’s been a year since our sweet puppies arrived! I’m happy to report that all of the puppies are doing amazingly well – they’re (mostly) well behaved, sweet little dogs! I am beyond happy with the homes they went to – we have a Facebook messenger chain going that everyone shares their latest updates on. It’s so cool to watch them grow and see all of their little personalities! There are definitely some Jenny traits in that run across all of the pups (the ability to jump insanely high, a mischievous streak, and the need to ALWAYS be with their people).

First up (I’m doing this by birth order, by the way), we have little Tritip. I think he’s actually the runt, coming in at 49.5 pounds! He gave us a bit of a scare the last few weeks with some sort of digestive issue, but is back to his normal, rambunctious self! He loves to play with Brady and Jenny as well as go on outings!

Next is Ike, the biggest of the bunch. A couple months ago, he was already pushing 70 pounds! He is a big softie who loves to snuggle – he hangs out with mom and dad on the sofa, as well as “big” sister Roxie!

Next is Ryder. He loves playing with his kids and is terrified of tin foil. He still has those absolutely beautiful light eyes! He loves to snuggle too – he has to be wherever his people are!

Next is Blitz. He went home with my sister-in-law and we’ve had the chance to reunite him and Tippy on several occasions. Blitz is actually the top of his canine good citizen class!

Next is Zeva, the lone girl. As with all of the pups, Zeva is also a snuggle bug. She will fiercely defend the family from the dreaded vacuum cleaner.

Next is Toby. He absolutely loves his two little boys and hanging out with his family!

Last, but not least, we have Harrie! He’s a blanket sucker (doesn’t eat them, just sucks on the corners) and likes to go where he shouldn’t (ie over gates, on tables, etc). Seems to be a common (mischievous) trait that I’m pretty sure they get from Jenny!

Baby Parakeets!

Anna Blankenheim Critters , ,

One of the most beautiful things in having so many animals here at the ranch is the chance to see the circle of life. This last year we lost our Shadow to cancer, found Jenny, and got to witness the birth of seven beautiful, healthy puppies. You may or may not know, but I’ve had two parakeets for the last 6 or so years – Ceelo and Lucia. Ceelo was a male, and unfortunately, passed away in early 2017. Lucia is female and, to my knowledge, has never procreated.

When Ceelo died, I worried that Lucia would get lonely, but didn’t want to buy just one more parakeet, knowing that she was pretty old. Enter Green Bean (boy) and Sky (girl). They were named by my 5 year old niece, but their names will give you an idea of their coloring.

Apparently, Miss Lucia is a bit of a cougar. She never showed signs of interest in Ceelo, but Green Bean seems to do it for her. Suddenly, there were eggs EVERYWHERE. I did what every good pet owner does when their animals do something like this – I took the eggs away so they wouldn’t hatch bought a nest box. I thought there was no way we would end up with babies, but here we are, 14ish days later with TWO babies! That’s right, for those of you who were following along on Facebook, we had a second one hatch yesterday! There are still a couple more eggs in there… not sure if they will hatch, but we’ll see!

Lucia is a fierce little mama – when you open the roof on the nest box she squawks like you would not believe (you can hear a little bit of it in the video below). The babies are now both making very quiet peeps when they’re hungry (I’m assuming) that you can also heard below. It’s so amazing to watch life!!!

Puppy Update!

Anna Blankenheim Critters , , , , , ,

I’ve had a ton of people ask me what’s going on with the puppies, so I thought I’d get pictures from all of their new owners and share! They’re not exactly little puppies anymore – they’re 5 months old now and everyone is doing really well! They’re all super smart, crate trained, and finding new ways to be adorable! Tritip might be the smallest (at about 35 pounds) and Ike might be the biggest (pushing 45 pounds)!

First off, Tritip. Yup, you’ve probably seen a thousand pictures of this little bugger by now!

 

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Next up, Ike! He’s with my friend Megan, her hubby Matt, and their adorable Boston terrier, Roxy!

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Then we have little Ryder. He with home with my friend Angel, her husband Dan, and their three sweet kids! This little boy is so loved by his kids! He was our blue-eyed chocolate lab, whose eyes have now changed color but are as stunning as ever!

 

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Next up, Blitz! He went home with my sister in law, brother in law, and niece. He’s fitting right it with big dog-sisters Ruby and Molly! He even came over to spend the night and reunite with Tritip… it was a blast!

 

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Now, onto our sweet girl, Zeva. She went home with our friends Ashley and John… and is doing very well with her big sister Mia! Something in her eyes totally reminds me of Jenny!

 

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Next, Toby. He went home with my friend Sharon, her husband, and their sweet little boys.

 

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Last, but not least, we have Harrie. You may recall that at one point Harrie was actually called Rebel. He went home with my friend Sarah from work who has fallen completely and utterly in love with him!

 

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Bad Days – Keepin’ It Real

Anna Blankenheim Critters ,

So, if you made it to this post through Facebook, you did so via a really cute picture of my puppy, Tritip.

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There’s a reason for that… the content ahead can and will be used in a court of law for my insanity trial, coming soon to a courthouse near you. No, seriously, there are graphic pictures to follow and it’s dinner time when I’m posting this, so I wanted you to be able to opt out if you so choose. So, if you’re that grossed out person, close the browser now.

I mean it.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Here’s the deal. I’ve had a cranky last couple of days. Just various, insignificant things that have been bothering me. In the grand scheme of things, they’re small. I know kids are starving in Africa, people are underwater in Houston, and even in my home state of California, people are in real danger of their homes burning.

The last few days Jenny has been working through her anger issues while Mike and I have been at work on anything she can get her teeth on. Seriously anything. Cardboard boxes, my flip flops, my cowboy boots, a ball point pen, a dish brush, Yahtzee, Cards Against Humanity, and even one of the sofa cushions.

Today, however, was just the icing on the cake… the coup de grâce. We left Jenny and Brady outside in the kennel (ha! take that!) and Tippy in the bathroom. He had a bit of an upset tummy last night, so I wasn’t expecting to come home to nothing. As I peeked into the bathroom, I was met with a bright-eyed, wiggly puppy. So far so good.

Then I saw he had made use of his potty pads and, for the most part, had made it onto said potty pads. I thoroughly praised him and took him outside so that I could come back in and clean up.

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That’s when I noticed it. The art.

Yes, my bright-eyed wiggly puppy decided that just shitting everywhere wasn’t enough. He needed to finger paint. And why not? That’s what everyone does when they have a nice little place to nap, a thousand toys, and some water… they choose to smear their own feces all over the counters, cabinets, door, walls, and floor!!!

After I got done cleaning, I sat down to reflect… and that’s when I began to laugh. There are most definitely worse things that could happen… now I need to go downstairs and see why it just got quiet…

Meet Tari!

Anna Blankenheim Critters ,

“Well it was bound to happen and one night it did,

Papa came home and it was just us kids we had another horse…”

Nothing like a little Garth Brooks! And yes, we now officially have another Blankenheim – because, you know, we are suffering a serious animal shortage in our house, right?

Meet Tari, a 22 year old registered Quarter Horse mare. And yes, I’m barefoot and in shorts in the pictures below. Cowgirl style. 🙂 She’s a beautiful little stocky thing, formerly a serious cowhorse. She’s going to live out life here at the ranch as a companion horse with some light riding. She’s a very sweet, kind minded mare and I’m so happy to have her!

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The Puppies Play Outside

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The puppies tub was desperately in need of a good hosing out, so I decided to let the puppies have their first time out in the yard while I cleaned their pool. They had an absolute blast and were so super curious!

Here’s one of my favorite pictures of the day – little Achilles on the move:

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Of course, I had to take lots of pictures of Tritip too:

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And the whole group of them exploring:

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Meet The Puppies – Rebel

Anna Blankenheim Critters , ,

Last, but certainly not least, was our bonus puppy. We were told by the vet that there were six, maybe seven puppies. After Toby, there was almost an hour before little Rebel was born. We were beginning to think that six would be it when this adorable little guy made his entrance at 1:15pm! He’ll be going home to Tim, Nicki, and Skyler as well – and get to spend his life with big brother Blitz! His name was pretty special too – Sky was just in a dance recital and got a little rebellious with a move she wasn’t supposed to do… the name was born!

Here’s Rebel on his birthday:

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Here’s Rebel now:

Rebel 3 Weeks 6-28-17

Meet The Puppies – Toby

Anna Blankenheim Critters , ,

Our sixth born is named Toby. He was born at 12:25pm and will be going home with my friend from high school, Sharon. She, her hubby, and her two boys are so excited! It was amazing to reconnect in person after all these years (we’ve stayed in touch via Facebook). They came out to the ranch, met Toby and fell in love!

Here’s Toby on his birthday:

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Here’s Toby now:

Toby 3 Weeks 6-28-17

Meet The Puppies – Zeva

Anna Blankenheim Critters , ,

Just when I thought we were going to have all boys, out came our one and only girl! Meet miss Zeva, born at 11:41am. She’ll be going home with our good friends Jim and Ashley! She is quite the little snuggle bug but will not hesitate to elbow her brothers out of the way to get some food!

Here she is on her birthday:

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Here’s miss Zeva today:

Zeva 3 Weeks 6-28-17