Category Archives: Prep

Stomping the yard

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As is probably evident from the previous posts and the mere existence of this blog, we have found a way to “make it work”. We are on our way to becoming the proud owners of a Lakeland terrier pup! And the cats will gain a new playmate (well… that’s how we’re pitching the idea to them anyway… they might decide not to embrace this new family member with open paws, but they’ll adjust, I’m sure!). Our decision to go ahead was a combination of 1) having a good experience at the breeder, 2) meeting the puppy’s adorable father (We really lucked out that the dad happens to be one of the breeder’s dogs. Usually people only get to meet the pup’s mother, because the father is merely a drive-by sperm donor! As for the mother, we will be meeting her in August, when she is brought to Belcarra in time for delivery.) and 3) it turning out to be relatively easy to adjust our lives so we can take proper care of our new quadrupedal family member!

Now we are the kind of people that like to be prepared when we know that change is on the horizon. Therefore, not surprisingly, our dining room table is sporting all sorts of Lakeland and terrier books, our browser history shows lots websites that contain “dog” somewhere in the title and a lot of adjustments are being tried, tested and carried through in and around the house. Our kitchen trashcan, for instance, is trying out a new home, because it might be making room for a dog crate. Also, the office upstairs is being rearranged, so our cats’ food-bowls will have a new, dog-free spot. And last week, our yard underwent a mini facelift to better accommodate canine inhabitation…

We’re pretty low-maintenance when it comes to our yard. Living in Vancouver, it is either raining or too cold to sit outside the majority of the time. All we want from our yard is for it to be tidy and to offer a place to sit those couple of weeks it is warm enough during the summer. But now that we’re becoming dog-owners, we need the yard to accommodate our pup as well. Because from October on, our yard will have to serve as a washroom (only until the pup is potty-trained!), a playroom and (eventually) a training facility for our four-legged friend.

First, we made sure that our gate will remain closed at all times:

We wouldn’t want the puppy to wander off! The coyotes in the park behind our house might get to him/her… There are still a few parts where the fence needs to be extended (downwards, that is… Lakelands are excellent diggers!), so a trip to Home Depot remains in order.

Secondly, we’ve had the ivy trimmed:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

This was like killing two birds with one stone (minus the bloodshed), because now the garden beds are easier to maintain and the puppy can’t hide under the ivy, causing me to have a heart-attack, worrying whether we’ll ever get him/her out of there!

And lastly, we’ve had the stepping-stones removed that used to run from patio to gate, and replaced them with a proper path:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Simple, but practical! Keep in mind that we will bring the puppy home in October… October in Vancouver means rain. Lots and lots of rain. The grass will be soggy, so a dry path from gate to patio will be much appreciated!

When Nico met London…

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It was May 28th, 2011, when we first made contact with out breeder, Judy Gruzelier. Her ‘kennel’ (none of the dogs are kennelled – she keeps it small and all are house dogs), Waterwalk, is located in Belcarra, a mere 40 kilometres from our home in Vancouver. We had anticipated this whole breeder-visiting business to be a time-consuming project requiring lots of long road-trips, because the Lakeland terrier is a rare breed and BC is about the size of Western Europe. Finding out that there was a good breeder only an hour away was astonishing. The odds seemed to be on our side, for sure.

Judy and I exchanged emails and she sent me some pictures of potential Lakie parents. And as if she had been listening in on our conversations all this time, two days later, on May 30th, London (one of the potential mommies) had come into season. -Bam!- You dream, London delivers. FedEx might as well pack up and go home.

Wow! Hold on. Time to take a deep breath. … We weren’t even sure we were ready for this. I mean, we had just started our research journey. The book we ordered about the Lakeland terrier was still on its (long!) way to our home, thanks to the Canadian postal strike. We weren’t planning on jumping in headfirst like this.

But nature does not wait on anything. London would be bred soon, puppies would arrive in August and a few lucky families would add a Lakie to their household in October. We decided that, even though we might not choose to be one of those families just yet, we would still be able to witness this incredible process and have a front-row seat to this whole puppy business. It would be somewhat of a dress-rehearsal for next year. Perfect!

And just like that it was time to get this show on the road.

On June 9th, London, a beautiful red girl, was brought to Belcarra from her home in Calgary. She had already proven to be an excellent mom to a litter of four happy and healthy pups (two red, two grizzle) last year. At that time, she was bred to Thomas, but this year Judy decided to breed London to Nico.

Nico is a handsome grizzle boy who has done extremely well on dog shows over the past year. When he is not out and about impressing the ladies and collecting awards, he roams Judy’s neighbourhood together with a Giant Schnauzer, two Japanese Chins, a Wheaten terrier and another Lakie. A lively bunch!

Now we all know that long-distance relationships can be tough. But Nico and London managed to keep their heads up, their priorities straight and had no issues rekindling their love. And by June 11th, London was on her way home again.

Unfortunately, we missed London by a day, but we got to meet Nico and Tristan (both of Judy’s Lakies) on June 12th. Enthusiastic, intelligent, curious and extremely loving, I cannot imagine these two having problems stealing anyone’s heart (… and lunch, while they’re at it). Excellent little con-artists with naughty eyes and a sturdy stride… don’t let their size fool you into thinking they’re plush lap-dogs! These mischievous monsters will hold their own just fine.

As we spent some time picking Judy’s brain, the novelty wore off and Tristan and Nico calmed right down. Nico cuddled up to Judy as we continued our conversation. It was great to see both sides to these dogs. For my husband it confirmed the fact that this was the right breed for us. They had energy and spunk (which he had missed in his Newfy that had passed away a few years ago), but could also chill out and be loving (which he really liked about his Newfy).

With all this new information and the impressions of Tristan and Nico still fresh in our minds, we drove home wondering… “Why not now?” “What if we could make it work?” … The way things were lining up, it seemed just too good an opportunity to pass up.

Thinking dog thoughts

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I have always known that, eventually (you know – “later, when I’m all grown up” – that kind of eventually), I wanted to own a Lakeland terrier. However, not even I could have anticipated that ‘eventually’ would become more ‘now’ and less ‘then’ over the course of a couple of months during this spring/summer.

Let’s backtrack.

In February 2011 my husband and I booked a trip to Europe, intending to visit family, attend a friend’s wedding and see some of the British countryside. No dog-thoughts could be detected anywhere near my mind. In fact, at this time we had happily co-existed with two cats for almost 5 years (as they are a lower-maintenance pet, it really was the next best thing!) and others had started labelling us as “cat-people”.

Now I’ve never been one to claim that the two are mutually exclusive. Nevertheless, I must admit I had kind of written the whole dog thing off, at least until the cats had passed away. Two pets is plenty, right? (Well… that’s not counting the salt-water aquarium my husband started about a year ago. But that’s another blog post in and of itself.) Oh boy, I should have known…

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Date: April 24, 2011
From: dad
Subject: Lakeland

Should we look for some info on…………

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And there it was. The tiny, dormant seed that had been buried in the back of my mind for over a decade just sprouted. Dog thought #1. Harmless as it might have seemed, this single thought initiated an ever-accelerating domino-effect that transformed the sprout into a three-storey high maple that could only be brought to a halt with one thing: a Lakeland terrier.

Initially, I told myself that it wouldn’t be a good idea to look at Lakelands while we were in England. I figured one thing would lead to another. But then again. It was a pretty safe bet, as I wasn’t even sure my husband would like these dogs. And we were in the Lake District, the place of the Lakeland’s origin. It would be a shame to pass on this opportunity to have a chance to trace the breed back to its roots! Besides, we weren’t going to be able to bring a puppy home on the plane anyway. So it wouldn’t hurt anyone to have a little peek, would it?

7177.5 kilometres away from home, in a British town called Egremont, we met Alan and Angela Johnston of the Oregill kennel. Alan’s grandfather, Alf, started this kennel in 1921 and was one of the first to breed Lakeland terriers. Blocks away from the old location of the kennel, we were welcomed by two Lakies. One red, one grizzle.

In the back, there were more terriers. More Lakelands, but also Fox terriers as well as working terriers. Splinters of wood started flying through the air as the already enthusiastic became enthused and started running circles in their cages at the sight of us. These were familiar sounds, as the two Kerry Blue terriers my family used to own showed equal excitement when we would get them from their cages in the morning, ready to take them out for their morning walk.

It was great to be able to see these terriers and to hear from Alan about the Lakelands in specific. We met some month-old Lakie pups… so adorable! And of course we discussed the possibility of finding a good breeder in Canada… I mean… when the opportunity comes knocking… you’ve got to open the door! And who better to ask than the expert, right? Well, as it turned out, Angela and Alan knew a fellow who they thought might be able to help us out: Mark Wamback of the Wakefield kennel in Toronto.

Needless to say, when we arrived back home after our vacation, dog-thoughts had infested my brain and I had to contact Angela Johnston for Mark Wamback’s contact information. It wouldn’t hurt just to inquire, would it? And what are the chances that there is anyone legit close-by? We’d probably have to make some road-trips to different kennels out in the country… And by the time we had made up our minds, we would be well into 2012, all educated and ready to take the next step in a sensible manner.

Well… it so happened to be the case that Mark knew of a good breeder right here in Vancouver’s lower mainland…