Min's Blog

THOR and RAJA


THOR, LUCKY LOUGH, ARIES, RAJA and ATHENA

THOR, APOLLO and RAJA playing with stick

APOLLO and RAJA

THOR

THOR and RAJA

ARIES andATHENA playing LUCKY LOUGH looking on

Bit of weird but cool news today... many of my friends and family remember last Christmas/Birthday when we found a little Pomeranian puppy for Gabby that she called Clark. We got him inexpensivly for such a sought after breed. He was barely 6 weeks old (born 31 Oct 2008...very appropriate if you know me) and at a steal of a price I didn't care about papers. The backwoods people we got him from didn't know how to go about getting dogs registeredand I didn't intend to breed him so it didn't matter.

He went through a great ordeala few months back with Parvo but beat the odds and survived. Myself and John stayed up with him around the clock alternating pepto, pedialite, and puppy milk in one mldoses. I held him and sang to him night after night when no one else would go around him because of the smell.Gabby turned him over to me because he loved me more than anyone soI renamed him, Raja (King in Hindi). Now, Raja is the most spoiled little king I've ever known.


Today we went into the vet to get his rabies shot and schedule his neuter surgery for next week. The vet came through and exclaimed, "What an adorable little Schipperke! I haven't seen one of those in years!" I didn't know what she was talking about, I'd never heard the word "Schipperkey" pn / Skipper-key / nor comprehended why she was saying it to me. I must have looked confused because she pointed at te dog and said, "your schipperkey," like I was slow.


I shook my head and told her no Raj was a Pomeranian. She made a strange face and shook her head. Later after we drew blood and ran tests she told me that she wasn't sure who told me he was a Pom but he was deffinately a Schipperkey. I found that not only interesting but awesome considering they are way more exotic than Poms! So let me reintroduce his Majesty, Raja the Schipperkey.




From Wikipedia:
A Schipperke is a small Belgian breed of dog that originated in the early 16th century.

Appearance Their small, pointed ears are erect atop the head. Schipperkes are either single or double coated with a soft, fluffy undercoat that is covered by a harsher-feeling and longer outer coat. One of the breed characteristics is a long ruff that surrounds the neck and then trails down towards the rear of the dog. Dogs of this breed usually weigh between 3 and 9 kg (7 to 20 lb). The Schipperke puppies are born tailless or with tails in different lengths. In Canada and the United States, they are usually docked soon after birth.

In countries that have bans on docking, the Schipperkes display their natural tails which curve over the back of the dog (if the dog is happy and the tail is long enough). The Schipperke is also known as the "Tasmanian black devil" and "little black devil," often because they can be stubborn, mischievous, and headstrong because they are naturally curious and high-energy dogs; when Schipperkes are bored, they often damage property. Schipperkes are very smart, and sometimes debate listening to owners and doing whatever benefits them the most. The Schipperke has no particular health problems, and individuals often reach the old age of 17 or 18 years.

Nonetheless, inactivity, lack of exercise and over-feeding are very harmful, and can lead to joint and skeletal problems and tooth, heart, lung or digestive conditions. Schipperkes were first recognized as a formal breed in the 1880s, their standard being written in 1889. Much of what is known of their origins and early history comes from Chasse et Pêche (French for "Hunting and Fishing") magazine, articles of which were translated into English and published by the English magazine The Stockkeeper. The breed name of "Schipperke," officially taken in 1888, in English-speaking nations to mean "little sailor".

Before the name "Schipperke" was officially taken, the breed was also known colloquially as "Spitzke". It is thought that the name change was to distinguish it from the German Spitz. Schipperkes are widely referred to the U.S.A. as "Belgian barge dogs" or "Belgian ship dogs." It is often said that Schipperkes live up to their name. In World War II, the Belgian Resistance used the dogs to run messages between various resistance hideouts and cells, and the Nazis never caught on.

Raja: