Value range - Raccoon

Please say hello to my latest little critter from my value range in my needle felting shop

A needle felted raccoon

I love these little guys. I think I will have to felt a more detailed one at some point soon

Value range - Border collie

Heres the next in the value range in my etsy shop

Another Black and white border collie - I do love making border collies

This wee guys is solidly felted but with less detail than my normal dogs, no open mouth no paws, no pawpads. Hes like a sketch in wool
But even so I think they have cute expressions

Needle felted red panda

Here is the first of my value range
A needle felted red panda
Please pop over to my shop for some more views of him


My mum was visiting my sister and neice and at the zoo they saw some red pandas (or more honestly they saw the back of them as they were quite shy) But that gave me the idea to felt one, and to feet him quickly and simply so the value range was born






They are such cute litte critters with their white cheeks and grumpy eyebrows they look like little old men
I love the slightly stripy tail too

New range

I love felting my detailed sculptures. Some of them can take 1 - 2 weeks to make
But also sometimes it is nice to create sometine in a day or two

and I am seeing from the interest in my destash section that some people would like the chance to get some affordable art.
So my value range has been born. Like a scetch in wool these guys are less detailed - no feet, no paw pads, no open mouths, no days working on shading

But they do have a little personallity of their own
I hope you like - I will introduce them individually over the next few posts.

Puli

Here is my latest listing in my Etsy shop.
A needle felted Puli.
I love this breed although I have never met one in person. They look crazy! Their curly fur cords together to create dreadlock type matts
But under all the fur is a agile little dog

what price of winning

Westminster is the American Crufts.
Personally I am not against dog showing. People who love their dogs having a good day out and meeting other people and other dogs in the breed they love. But I am against breeding dogs to win shows.
Although I am sure there will be some great ethical breeders there are also those who are more interested in the hobby of showing than their individual pet dogs.
A bad example of this is the Sheltie winning best of breed at Westminster
Go check out this blog for more information - and hang around there and have a look at some of the other articles on there.
Basically this dogs sire is deaf and blind
Yup you read that right - he was deliberatly bred from a deaf blind dog.
What is worse is his father is not deaf and blind by accident, a freak of nature, the breeders knew there was a very good chance that some puppies from the mating would turn out to be deaf and blind.
That is because of the pretty merle coat. Without going too much into genetics here a dog gets the information for whether his coat will be solid or merle patterened from its parents. One from each. If both parents give the gene for a solid coat then the dog will have a solid coat. If One parent gives the gene for a solid coat and the other for a merle coat then the dog will have a merle coat.
So a solid coloured dog can only have two copies of the solid coloured gene. So they can only pass on a solid coloured gene
A merle coated dog will have one solid coloured gene and one merle gene. So they can pass on either a solid coloured gene or a merle gene

The problem arises when two merle dogs are bred together. From that breeding you can get solid coated dogs if each parent passes on a solid gene.
Merle dogs if one parent passes on a merle gene and the other a solid coat gene

But there is also a 25% chance that BOTH parents will pass on the merle gene
Then you have a double merle. This is often associated with eye abnormalitites and hearing problems - many of the puppies being born blind, deaf or both.

Breeders know the risks but still breed two merles together because it gives a higher chance of merle puppies
Many cull the double merles at birth



But it seems some go on to breed from their poor deaf blind dogs. Not only a few times, this double merle dog is one of the top sires in the breed!

Is the rosette worth the price?

Stop puppy farmers

Before the new Pedigree dogs exposed program on monday here is a Kennel club vid of how and why you should avoid buying a dog from a puppy farm.

And my latest listing in my shop - a giant head westie, hope you like him

More Destash

Wow, Felix sold in less than 30 min of being listed - a new record for me.
He is off to his new home as I type.
As this seems to be a good way to make a little space in my house I have added a few more fuzzies to my destash section
One of the first is this kitten. She was a really early peice for me, and instead of felting her eyes I used stunning blue glass eyes.

DESTASH

My rehoming drawer for my Fuzzies is now overflowing. I remember when I started this I never thought I would have enough stock to make my little Etsy shop look OK, but now I am bursting at the seams!!

Some of my fuzzies have been overlooked for a little while now so to make room for new items I have SLASHED my prices. Its a chance for someone to own a McFuzzylugs origonal for a very daft price - I just want to find them a good home now

Teaser 3

And here is the text that will be in the local papers

Club barking with joy after Glasgow Airport’s donation

A local dog agility club has received a cash injection of £2,500 from Glasgow Airport’s FlightPath Fund.

Phoenix Flyers Dog Agility Club, which was set up last year by airport security guard, Tony Gallacher, will use the funding to purchase the agility equipment needed to train the dogs.

Dog agility is a sport where a handler guides a dog over a course of jumps, tunnels, weaves and contact equipment. The airport has also provided the club with full use of land at the airport, near the picturesque Paisley Moss.

Tony said: “I launched the club last year with two members and we’re now up to 15. The club has proved really popular and to continue to grow we had to invest in some new equipment.

“The airport has really pulled out all the stops in their generosity to the club. Not only have they allowed the club free use of the land, which is in the perfect environment for dog training, they have donated a storage container for the dog agility equipment and £2,500 to help get the club started.”

John McConnell, Head of Commercial at Glasgow Airport, said: “We are only too happy to offer support to the Phoenix Dog Agility Club. I spent some time with Tony and the team and they do a fantastic job training the dogs. I wish the club every success for the future.”

Tony added: “Dog agility not only keeps you fit it improves the bond between dog and owner. It is a sport suitable for most breeds of dogs and we would be delighted to hear from anyone interested in joining the club.”

For more information check out www.phoenixagility.com

Picture info:

John McConnell joins Tony and the some of the club members for a spot of agility training.

Further info:

1. Tony has worked as a security guard at Glasgow Airport for the past 10 year
2. His dog was his bridsmaid at his wedding"

1.