Kalwa Springers

Excitement in New Mexico

2011-11-18T22:49:00.000-08:00

The first weekend in November we headed down to Rio Rancho, NM for the Sporting Dog Fanciers of New Mexico specialty show. As mentioned previously, Georgia just needs a major to finish, and we were hoping she would get that last major at these shows. We entered Sasha and Hazel as well, largely because we needed them to make sure we had enough bitches to make a major. Carter was entered because we're trying to get those last few grand championship points for him, but we ended up leaving him home.

We've been to these shows before, and the weather at the beginning of November in New Mexico is usually fairly pleasant. Not so this year, though. The forecast was for cold, rain, and wind. Saturday morning was chilly and windy, but no rain yet when we headed to the show site at 7 am. Grooming at these shows is outdoors without power, so we brought the EZ Up tent for cover. As we were getting the tent set up, the wind was a concern, but the threat of rain made it necessary. Just as we got the first dog on the grooming table the rain started and the wind picked up, though. it quickly became apparent that the tent wasn't going to stay up, so we had to break it down, as the hailstorm started. They ended up delaying the start time of the show for an hour and a half, while we took the top off the tent, tried to secure loose items, and got the dogs back into the car in a hailstorm. Then we spent the next few hours huddled in the van, trying to dry off wet clothes and do what grooming we could on the dogs from inside the van.

The rain cleared up after a couple hours but it was still very cold, with winds of up to 40 mph, when the show finally started. Definitely not the nicest weather to show in, but it turned out to be a good thing that we stuck it out. Sasha and Hazel were entered in the 12-15 month class, with Georgia in bred-by. Hazel was first and Sasha second in their class. Georgia won bred-by, so was only one step away from the win she needed. However, a big surprise came in the winners class when Hazel went winners bitch for her second major, And an even bigger surprise came when Sasha went reserve. I was disappointed Georgia didn't win, but couldn't really complain. Especially when Hazel also went best opposite over two specials, making it a 4-point major and bringing her point total to 10 points, both majors at 15 months old.

Sunday's weather was chilly, but sunny and not too windy. Results were the same in 12-15, but Georgia was third in bred-by, ending her hopes of finishing that weekend. Hazel ended up going reserve, but no points that day. So Georgia is still on the hunt for that second major. Not sure when she'll be able to get it. Shows are probably on hold at least until after the first of the year now, as we get into the holidays and have weather considerations and family obligations.

Breeding plans are unfortunately affected by our show results. I want to finish Georgia before breeding her, as the time to get her back into shape after a litter to get that last major would be considerable. She is due in season again in January and I would have bred her then if she had finished before, but now it will probably have to wait until the season after that. So it looks like our next litter will not be until fall

In other show news, the same weekend we were in New Mexico, Faith was entered at the ESSFTA supported entry in Fort Wayne, IN, where she was BOS in sweeps on Sunday. What a great win! And to round out the good news from the weekend, I also learned that Mali (Kalwa's Keeper of the Flame), who lives in Georgia, has earned her NA title and has one leg toward her NAJ. She is the first Kalwa springer to earn an agility title, and we're very proud of Mali and her owner, Marilyn Davey. What a great weekend all around for the Kalwa crew across the country!

October Update

2011-10-29T12:34:00.000-07:00

Not a lot of news to report for October. Carter and Georgia went to the Greater Las Vegas English Springer Spaniel Club specialty shows in Primm, NV October 14-16. We were hoping for that last major for Georgia, but didn't get it. Carter did win a 5-point grand champion major by going select dog at the specialty, though, and only needs 7 single points now to complete his grand championship. And on the east coast, Faith picked up two more points in October, bringing her total to 7.

We are heading to the sporting dog specialties in New Mexico next weekend, for another chance at that last major for Georgia. Fingers crossed for her to finish! That will most likely be the last of our shows for the year. If she does finish her championship, Georgia will likely be bred in January 2012, but if she isn't finished yet, we will probably postpone breeding her until fall.

Hope everyone has a happy Halloween!

Update. Finally.

2011-10-01T21:02:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I updated this blog, and even longer since updating my website. I apologize for that, and plan to make an effort to keep things more up-to-date. So, let's catch up on recent Kalwa news.

The Elements litter are over a year old now, and are doing great. Of the four that are being shown, Hazel (Kalwa's Elements in Harmony) has been the most successful. She currently has 6 points, with one major. She earned her major under judge Pat Trotter from the 6-9 month puppy class, going Winners, Best of Winners, and Best Opposite (over 2 specials). Very exciting! Her sister, Faith (Kalwa's Elements of Faith) has also done very well, with 5 points so far. And brother Sterling (Kalwa's Elements of Sterling) has already picked up his first two points, as well as 3 reserve wins in only 3 weekends of showing. Sasha (Kalwa's Elements of Style) is holding her own, with a puppy group 3, but generally places behind her sister for now.

In other show news, Georgia (Kalwa's Sweet Georgia Brown) is close to finishing now, needing just a major for her championship. She has earned 7 points, including a major, in her last two weekends showing. We're heading to Primm, Nevada for a specialty in two weeks; fingers crossed for Georgia to finish! Carter (CH Kalwa's Incense and Peppermints RN) has been working on his grand championship and he has also done well in the past few months. He now has 13 grand championship points, with 3 majors and 4 wins over other champions, so he just needs singles to finish now.

In breeding news, I have decided not to breed Kali (mother of the Sweet litter and the Elements litter) again. I was planning to breed her on her current season (she came in a few weeks ago), but the timing just isn't right for puppies just now for a variety of reasons, and Kali is already almost eight, so waiting and breeding on her next season isn't really an option. So, the current plan is to breed Georgia next. She is due in season in January, and will probably be bred then, as long as she finishes her championship by then. I am in the process of considering potential stud dogs, and will update information here and on the website as plans are made.

Puppy Update

2010-11-15T11:55:00.000-08:00

Things kind of got away from me, time-wise, in terms of keeping up with puppy updates. The pups are all off to their new homes now. I ended up keeping Hazel (formerly Palladium) in addition to Sasha (formerly Cadmium). I had originally planned to place her, but began to like how she looked more and more as she got older, and decided to hang onto her for a while rather than placing her in a pet home. We will see how she looks, and how she compared to her sister, as they get older. The other five are all in great new homes. Faith (formerly Platinum) and Sterling (formerly Tungsten), will be shown, which I am happy about. The three liver boys are in great pet homes across the country.

I did take eight week old pics, but didn't get around to posting them, so I'll do that now, with info about where the puppies are now and their registered names and new call names.

Argon, now called Archie
Registered as Kalwa's Noble Element
Living in Grand Junction, CO

Archie

Krypton, now called Max
Registered as Kalwa's Magical Element
Living in Leesburg, VA

Max

Xenon, now called Teddy
Registered as Kalwa's Essential Element
Livingin Phoenix, AZ

Teddy

Tungsten, now called Sterling
Registered as Kalwa's Elements of Sterling
Living in Midvale, UT, where he will be shown in conformation and obedience.

Sterling

Platinum, now called Faith
Registered as Kalwa's Elements of Faith
Living in Williamstown, WV with her aunt, Grace (Kalwa's Waitin' for a Sunny Day).
Faith will be shown in conformation.

Faith

Palladium, now called Hazel
Registered as Kalwa's Elements in Harmony
Staying here at Kalwa, where she'll do all the stuff the Kalwa dogs do.

Hazel

Cadmium, now called Sasha
Registered as Kalwa's Elements of Style
Staying here at Kalwa (although living with my mother).
Sasha will be shown in conformation, obedience, and possibly agility.

Sasha

Available Puppies

2010-10-04T11:59:00.000-07:00

I've had some planned homes fall through, so I now find myself with a couple puppies still to place. Exactly which puppies are still available is somewhat up in the air at this point, as I haven't finalized puppy choices for the homes that are getting one. Everything is pending outcomes of health clearances, even though I am starting to get a good feel for which pups may go where. What I'd really like is homes that are interested in showing and possibly performance events for Platinum and Tungsten. Both have outgoing, confident, personalities with strong retrieving instincts and will probably make decent perfomance dogs, and both are also shaping up nicely into show prospects, and I'd love to see them in the show ring. So, if anyone out there is looking for either a dog or a bitch to show and/or do performance events, please let me know. I'd especially like to find local (Salt Lake area) homes interested in getting involved in dog shows. We'd love to increase the population of Springer people involved in dog events in this area, with the hope of creating a local Springer club at some point in the future. So, anyone in Utah who already has a Springer and might be interested in joining a club, contact me, too. kalwaspringers@gmail.com

Show Brags

2010-09-29T12:41:00.000-07:00

We made the trip up to the Helena, MT shows last weekend and had a good time there. Tucker (Kalwa's Sweet Emotion) who lives near Helena was entered, and I brought Tucker's sister Georgia (Kalwa's Sweet Georgia Brown) and Carter (CH Kalwa's Incense and Peppermints RN). We were at the shows Saturday and Sunday, and both days Tucker was Winners Dog for a point, Georgia was Winners Bitch/Best of Winners/Best Opposite Sex for a point, and Carter was Select Dog for a point toward his grand champion title. Would have been even better if Carter won the breed, but he's hardly been shown since finishing his championship last year, and he's a little out of condition. Not to mention that his competition in the breed is one of the top Springers in the coutry who has been heavily campaigning for a while, and who happens to be a very nice dog in his own right. So, definitely happy with the outcome of the weekend.

Six Week Photos

2010-09-29T12:33:00.000-07:00

So, once again I'm a little behind getting pictures up, but here are six-week-old photos of the puppies. They got their first baths and haircuts the same day the pictures were taken, so there are before and after the haircut shots of each puppy, as well as stacked pictures. I'm hoping to get another good set of pictures this weekend, when the puppies will be about eight weeks old. I'm starting to think about who's going where, and final placement decisions will be made in the next couple of weeks, before they start heading off to their new homes October 16.

Argon (l/w boy) before his haircut

Argon after being groomed

Argon stacked

Xenon (l/w boy) before his haircut

Xenon after grooming

Xenon stacked

Krypton (l/w boy) before being groomed

Krypton after grooming

Krypton stacked

Tungsten (b/w boy) before his haircut

Tungsten after grooming

Tungsten stacked

Cadmium (l/w girl) before her haircut

Cadmium after grooming

Cadmium stacked

Palladium (b/w girl) before her haircut

Palladium after grooming

Palladium stacked

Platinum (b/w girl) before grooming

Platinum after grooming

Platinum stacked

In other news...

2010-09-20T07:17:00.000-07:00

Carter passed his therapy dog evaluation! On September 11, Carter and I went through the evaluation to become Delta Soceiety Pet Partners, and passed. So Carter is now officially a therapy dog, just like his mother, Harmony. Once all the paperwork is submitted, we will be doing some volunteer work in the local hospitals and care centers, and I am hoping that in the future I will be able to use Carter in my professional work, like I did with Harmony, as well.

Five Weeks Old

2010-09-20T07:15:00.000-07:00

The puppies are six weeks old today, so I'm a little behind, but here are pictures taken a week ago. These are the first stacked pictures of the puppies. Some of the babies were more cooperative than others, which is reflected in the pictures. All the puppies are happy and healthy, even little Argon who had such a rough start.

Argon

Krypton

Xenon

Tungsten

Palladium

Platinum

Cadmium

More Three Week Old Pics

2010-08-31T10:25:00.000-07:00

My niece, Zoey, with Platinum

Playtime!

The liver puppies

the black puppies

My daughter, Lydia, with Argon and Palladium

Kali's getting less fond of motherhood

Three Weeks Old

2010-08-31T10:07:00.000-07:00

The puppies are three weeks old now, and adorable. Eyes are open, they are walking, and are starting to play. They will be starting on solid foods in the next couple of days. Individual three week old pictures are below.

Argon, l/w boy

Platinum, b/w girl

Palladium, b/w girl

Cadmium, l/w girl

Tungsten, b/w boy

Krypton, l/w boy

Xenon, l/w boy

Two-Week-Old Pictures

2010-08-27T17:56:00.000-07:00

They're a little out-of-date, since the puppies are almost 3 weeks old now, but here are individual pictures taken at two weeks old. To see the pups in real time, visit the Puppycam.


Argon, l/w male


Xenon, l/w male


Platinum, black/white girl


Palladium, b/w girl


Cadmium, l/w girl


Tungsten, b/w boy

Krypton, l/w boy

Growing Up Fast

2010-08-26T12:13:00.000-07:00

The third week is always a fun one for puppies. They go from little sausage-like blobs at two weeks to actual little dogs, with open eyes and able to walk, at three weeks. The transformation is amazing. The little Element babies' eyes are starting to open now, and they are all able to get up on all fours and stagger around. The staggering is kind of zombie-like right now, but that will change in a few days. Check out the Puppycam to see what they're up to right now.

I've had a lot of recent inquiries and it looks like I've got more than enough potential homes for the babies now, which is great for them, but not so great for you if you're looking for a puppy. If you are looking for a puppy and want some help finding a breeder, please let me know and I'm happy to help however I can. I can be reached by e-mail at kalwaspringers@gmail.com

Below are a few pics of the puppies this week. Two-week-old individual pictures were taken, and will hopefully be posted soon (waiting to get them back from the official puppy photographer, by sister-in-law, Lizz).

The First Week

2010-08-18T10:10:00.000-07:00

The Elements babies are 9 days old today. They've all made it through the first week, but it's been a tough one at times. Kali became ill with a fever and lethargy on Friday. Fortunately she has now recovered with some antibiotics. Then, one of the puppies (Argon) became ill on Saturday with some type of gastrointestinal problems. He stopped nursing and was crying constantly. Two trips to the emergency vet later, he finally began improving on Sunday. As of today, he is doing much better. He appears happy again and is now nursing on his own after requiring a few days of tube feeding. Hopefully he will continue to do well. Finally, three of the pups lost the stitches from their tail docking (possibly the result of over-zealous cleaning on their mom's part) and they had to be restitched yesterday. It's been a week full of vet visits. Hopefully we're past that now and the next several weeks will be uneventful.

I've had a few people on my list of those who wanted puppies tell me they have recently found other dogs elsewhere, so I still have a puppy or two from this litter available. If you are interested, please let me know at kalwaspringers@gmail.com. More info about this litter including pedigree and pics of the parents can be seen on my website at http://www.kalwaspringers.com/ Click on Puppies, then Kalwa Puppies, then the Elements Litter. Puppy placement info is also on the website, on the Planned Parenthood page.

Puppies are a lot of fun, but they sure consume a lot of time, energy, and money. Sleep has been in short supply lately, and the cost of vet trips has added up rapidly. Fortunately, adorable babies make up for a lot. Here are a few recent pics of the puppies. For some reason, Argon seems to find himself in just about every cute puppy snapshot I take. I'll try to get a better representation in the future. And if you want a real-time view of the pups, visit the Puppycam.

All the pups napping on 8/16

Cadmium and Argon

Argon

Argon and Palladium

Tungsten and Argon

Updated Puppy Pictures

2010-08-13T15:57:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are individual pictures of the puppies. They had tails and dew claws done yesterday, and all are still doing great and getting fat. The biggest (Argon) is over a pound already. They are pictured in the order they were born. These pictures were taken at one day old.

Argon, liver/white boy

Xenon, liver/white boy

Platinum, black/white girl

Palladium, black/white girl

Cadmium, liver/white girl

Tungsten, black/white boy

Krypton, liver/white boy

Puppies are Here!

2010-08-11T07:54:00.000-07:00

Kali had her puppies on Monday, August 9. They were a bit of a surprise as they weren't expected until Wednesday at the earliest. In fact, she had the first one on her own while we were out for a couple of hours. Fortunately, that puppy was fine, and the rest followed quickly and without any problems. Mom and all babies are doing well. We ended up with seven puppies. Final count is: three liver boys, one black boy, two black girls, and one liver girl. This is the Elements litter; all the baby names are chemical elements and the registered names will contain the work element in some form. The puppy cam is up and running (most of the time; we are experiencing some minor technical difficulties that will hopefully be fully resolved soon). The link to the puppy cam is here. If that doesn't work, try this one. A few pictures of the babies are below; more will follow soon both here and on the Kalwa website as soon as I get a chance to post them.

Kali's Home

2010-06-21T09:51:00.000-07:00

Kali's back home after 10 days in Salem, OR for her date with Andy. The breeding went well, so now we just have to wait until we can confirm pregnancy. Hopefully everything will be successful, and we will have puppies in about 8 weeks.

For more info about Kali and Andy, please visit them on my website at http://www.kalwaspringers.com. If you are interested in a puppy, please contact me as I am taking reservations now.

Breeding

2010-06-10T19:01:00.000-07:00

Kali arrived safely in Oregon and Tuesday night for her date with Andy. A successful breeding took place today, and hopefully they'll be able to get a couple more over the next few days. I will be driving to Oregon the weekend of 6/19 to pick Kali up and hopefully she will be pregnant. If all goes well, pups should be only a couple of months away. I finally got around to updating my website with breeding info, including a pedigree for this litter and some pics of Andy. Check it out at http://www.kalwaspringers.com (click on Puppies, then Planned Parenthood).

In sadder news, website updates also included updating the pages for Harmony and Lucy to reflect the fact that both are at the Bridge now. We lost Lucy in February, and Harmony at the beginning of May. Heartbreaking.

Breeding Update

2010-06-01T06:49:00.000-07:00

Kali is in season. She came in a couple of weeks earlier than I was hoping she would. I've got a busy few weeks coming up, including being out of town for 9 days. I was hoping to be able to drive her to Oregon for her date with Andy, but looks like that won't be able to happen now. She will be going by plane, instead, although I'm still hoping I can drive to pick her up. She'll be going to the vet on Friday to get a health certificate and brucellosis test, and then should be all set to make the trip, probably early next week. Looks like we'll (hopefully) have puppies born around the middle of August. That's a pretty good time; the weather will hopefully remain pretty good until they are off to their new homes in early November.

Change of Plans

2010-05-26T09:17:00.000-07:00

Due to some problems with the stud dog's sperm evaluation, we won't be breeding Libby this season after all. We will possibly try again on her next season, or it might wait until next year because her co-owner isn't sure she wants to do a winter litter. I'm disappointed things didn't work out this time; hopefully it will all be good when we decide to try again.

Plans for Kali are still in place; just waiting for her to come into season which could be any time now.

Breeding Plans

2010-05-20T15:29:00.000-07:00

Two litters are in the works for summer/fall 2010. Kali (Ch. Kalwa Good Morning Starshine) will be bred to Andy (Ch Tri-Ste's And My Daddy Is). This litter will be at my home in West Jordan, UT. Kali will be bred when she comes into season, which should be in June (or maybe early July). The other litter will be from a bitch I co-own. Libby (Kalwa's Ekovly Always and Forever) lives with her co-owner in Galion, OH. Libby just came into season, and will be bred to Eastman (Ch. All-Time's Kodak Moment CD RN CGC). Additional info about both litters (including pictures and pedigrees for the prospective parents) will be available shortly on the Planned Parenthood page of http://www.kalwaspringers.com.

Getting Started

2010-05-19T10:41:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the world of Kalwa Springers. I am a small-scale breeder, exhibitor, and all-around lover of English Springer Spaniels. I have been involved with Springers since 1999, and have bred Springers under the prefix Kalwa since 2004. I love sharing info about my dogs, and thought this blog might be a good way to enhance the information available on my website at http://www.kalwaspringers.com. The website's great, but challenging to keep updated on a regular basis, so I thought a blog might be a good way to post recent info and pics about the Kalwa Springers and their activities. For more in-depth info about me and the Kalwa dogs, check out the website, then come back here for up-to-the-minute (or at least more regularly updated) info about what the Springers and I are doing.