Ellie Mae

I think I have been remiss in telling you about our newest member! Back on October 19th, I just happen to be off from my job getting ready for some photography sessions. I left the house to head to town and about a mile from the house, something white caught my eye out in a pasture. I drove past then realized it was a puppy. She was just sitting there. Of course, I stopped and backed up. When I got out, she started running away. But I yelled for her to stop. She did, looked at me, then ran straight to me. Poor girl was skin and bones. Very dehydrated. I took her straight to my local clinic and had the vet check her out. The first picture is when I found her.

She spent the weekend with me at the studio. She was so good. At home, she'd lay in her kennel. Never had an accident in the house. Just a really good girl. Second picture!

Now she's too large for her kennel! After two months, she has fit in great. And just this week, I had a client tell me she was a Dudley Lab. I had no idea what that was so I looked it up. Sure enough, she is. Her pink nose and light eyes are caused by recessive genes. Apparently Dudley Labs are rare and do not meet Lab standards. So we wonder if a breeder dumped her? If so, they missed out on a great dog with beautiful features.

It may also explain why she refuses to leave the yard and is terrified to be put in the truck. Guess she thinks I'm gonna leave her somewhere. Gotta work on that!

So welcome Ellie Mae to the Crazy M clan!

(Post written on IPad thus the pictures all at the bottom. Still figuring the app out! But maybe I'll post more now with it!)

Merry Christmas from Crazy M

World Finals Champion

What a week we had!!  Last Tuesday, while the husband was in Austin and me at home, we watched via the internet, our bull, Long Shot, win the long round of the Back Seat Buckers competition in Vegas.  We had to make the top 5 to advance to the world finals on Saturday.  We were so excited!

We flew to Vegas late Friday night.  Met with the new owners of Long Shot early Saturday.  Mr. Long and his wife are such great people.  They requested we sit with them at the PBR Finals that night.  The short go round for Long Shot was head after the 4th section during the PBR Finals.  Of course, their seats were in the third row!

We were so nervous leading up the the competition.  But it came and Long Shot was the last bull out.  He BLEW them out of the water!!  We WON the World Finals for the Back Seat Buckers!!  Mr. Long was presented with a check for $250,000 and a buckle.

Mr. Long then stated he was having one made for us as well.  We were so ecstatic.  The husband has always said he would never go to the PBR Finals unless he made it.  Well, we finally did and we left world champs!

More Changes Ahead!

Seems to be an ongoing thing around here! First I have to tell y'all our bull won another competition!

He has won two on the series and we will be headed to Vegas at the end of October!!! We are so excited. The last competition we watched live online. We had to wait for 48 more bulls to buck after he took the lead. It seemed like FOREVER! After the last bull's score was posted, the husband and I were doing a happy dance around the computer. ;)

Other big news for us, we're moving! The husband got a promotion with Dr Pepper and will be working near Austin. So that means Crazy M Ranch will be moving South. We have put our place up for sale. Fingers crossed we find a buyer so we can afford something down there.

Everything is kinda up in the air right now which drives me insane. Speaking of driving insane, we weaned our calves today. We'll be serenaded with bawling for several days to come. Poor babies.

I want to leave you with Butch's latest modeling project. He's still working off that vet bill! ;)

**this is my first attempt at blogging from my phone so I hope it turns out!**

Big Happenings

For those that are not on Facebook, you have missed out on our big news!  

Drumroll.......

I'm pregnant!  

NOT REALLY!  

Are y'all freakin' crazy!?

The real news is we have raised a couple bulls that are doing great in competition.  In fact, at the last competition in Tulsa, we won 1st and 4th place out of 90 entries!  One minor issue, we no longer own the bulls.  BUT we did raise them!  Our brand is on them.  So we are so stinkin' excited!

Here are a few pictures of the winning bull.  His new owner has named him Long Shot 2.  This first picture is from the previous competition.  I think he was in the top 5 there.

The next picture is from Tulsa where he won.

I don't have a picture of the other bull.  But here were the end results.

The next competition is on Sept 1st in Thackerville, OK.  We are making plans to be there to root them on.  IF they continue to do good, we will be booking our flight to the finals in Vegas!  So keep your fingers crossed for us!

Busy Picture Takin' Bee!

No matter how much I say I'm gonna try to keep up with the blog, it never fails, I fall behind.  Things have been busy around these parts but nothing new about that.

Butch is fitting in well with the family.  However, we did have a scare.  A week after adopting him, I came home from work to find him acting very strange.  I finally decided a visit to the emergency vet clinic was warranted.  So after about 3 hours and a very large vet bill, he was diagnosed with retrobulbar abscess.  That's a fancy way of saying he had an infection in the cavity behind his left eye.  It was extremely painful.  After TWO weeks of antibiotics and pain medicine, he's good as new!  We don't know what caused the infection.  I do know if he had still been at the shelter, he would most likely been put down.  So he came into our lives at the right moment!

Needless to say, he's doing a lot of modeling to pay off his vet bill!  Here is his latest shot.  I have had several requests to buy the print.  So I'm selling it with part of the proceeds going to my cattle dog spay/neuter fund.  The other portion going to his vet bill!!

Diesel and Butch have become my running partners in the evenings too.  They do great.  Plus I figure if I fall out, Diesel can drag my body back to the house.  ;)

I've been busy at the studio.  Last Saturday, I took photos of a senior poodle that was rescued from a shelter in the metroplex.  She was on the list to be put down.  Rescued in the nick of time.  I was asked to do pictures to help find her a home.  She was a total sweetheart.

Within 24 hours of her picture being posted online, she was adopted!  I think that's a record!

Other good news, I got my cattle dog fundraiser calendar completely sponsored!!  So I'm working on scheduling the model sessions and putting the calendar together.  I hope to have it printed and ready for sale in October!  I'm very excited about this.  It's the largest fundraiser I have done with a potential of raising $5000 for my spay/neuter fund.  Okay, I'm super excited!!

Cattle are still hanging out in the pastures.  Babies are growing.  Can't wait till we wean.  Love having the babies at the house.  I promise to have a bunch of baby pictures then for ya!

If you'd like to keep up with me on Facebook, you can like my photography page.  I think several of y'all already do!

Off to bed I go!  Hope everyone is doing well!

Celebrating a Birthday

I can not believe my Diesel is 3 years old!!  He's been a Texan for over 2 years now.  Amazing how time flies.

He was such a cute puppy.

Now he's a handsome boy.

He got that new soccer ball for his birthday.  It was deflated in no time!  I also baked him some peanut butter oatmeal cookies.  Who knew you could find refrigerated dog cookie dough at the store?  Yes, I'm a lazy momma!

Penelope even gave her big brother a hug on his birthday!

Love ya Diesel Man!

Bless My Husband

Yesterday, I ran up to the shelter to find a model.  I wanted a cattle dog for my calendar.  I have had several people sponsor a month with no dog so to fill those in, I am using dogs from the shelter.  Anyhow, I had one in mind.  However, when I got there, she had been put down.  Ugh, that always puts a lump in my throat.  As long as I've done this though, I know I can't dwell and have to look at who else I can help.  


So my shelter staff friend and I walked the kennels until I found two heelers.  One a red, the other a blue.  I chose the red.  His eyes were begging me to take him.  He didn't even have a name.  My staff friend asked if I would name him while I had him with me.  I said sure.


So I loaded the heeler up and headed East to the studio.  It's about a 35 minute drive.  He sat scared in the front seat, never peeping a word.  I always sing to them when we drive thinking that may calm them down.  Usually I just get weird stares like "seriously, you think that horrendous noise helps?!"


We made it to the studio and met up with the husband.  He was able to help me out which I LOVE!  He's so good.  Anyhow, I let the heeler hang out for a little bit.  He was very timid especially around the Husband.  Men seem to intimidate and scare him.  He stuck to me like glue.  I sat in the floor with him to reassure it would be okay.  He just laid his head in my lap and slept.


We did eventually get pictures taken.  Here are a few...

I named him Butch.  After the photos, we hung out in the studio.  He still stuck to me like glue. 


It was getting close to the time I usually return the dogs to the shelter.  But I just hated to send him back.  I usually hate returning the little ones too but in the back of my mind, I know they will more than likely find a home.  It's just easier for the small ones.  And the other two heelers I had seen there previously had already been put down.  I didn't want that to happen to Butch.  He seemed to have already had a rough go in life.  Only 7 months old and from his behavior, appeared to have been mistreated.  


The Husband saw it coming.  He told me several times we did NOT need another dog.  Which I replied, what is ONE more?  I asked if I could at least bring him to the house and see how the other dogs would react to him.  He agreed.  I would return him to the shelter if they did not get along.  


So home I went with Butch in tow.  I introduced him to the pack and guess what, they didn't really seem to mind him.  Not much drama at all.  Frankly, I was pretty surprised.  So I let him hang for a few hours.  


Finally, a decision had to be made.  The shelter would be closing in an hour and it is a 45 minute drive from the house.  I loaded him up and went to town.  When I arrived, I asked them if they could do some tests to check him out.  Make sure he was heartworm negative.  I was pushing the envelope with another dog as is, I certainly would not be allowed a sick dog.  


The shelter staff were SHOCKED when I told them I was adopting him if the test came back negative.  They happily did the test for me and we waited for the results.  Ten minutes later, it returned NEGATIVE.  Butch was officially coming back home to live with us.


He was never so happy as he was leaving the shelter with me the second time!  And he lit up when he came back to the house.  The Husband went outside after we came home.  He said you must have told him he gets to stay because he seems so happy.


Today, the Husband took a picture of me, the crazy dog lady, and all her kids.

Had to Share

Yesterday, I ran up to the shelter to snatch a dog.  Brought her back to the studio for some pictures.  When I got there, they already had one picked out for me.  Her name is Maria.  Here are some of her pictures.

Isn't she precious!  She rode in my lap to and from the shelter.  Just a love bug.  When I took her back, I made a promise that I would do everything I could to find her a home.  That's the worst part of the gig.  Taking them back to their cage. But I know someone is going to snatch her up soon.  How could you not?!

Can't Keep Up

Despite my efforts to stay on top of all my internet duties, I have failed considerably!  My days are filled with my "real" job, then my photography job in the evenings and weekends.  Husband still works nights.  See him only on the weekends.  He's been an awesome assistant for my photography!  Here, I'll show you...

That was a two dog session.  While I was photographing one dog and the owner, the Husband was entertaining the other. ;)


Not only has he been helping me at sessions, he has been working on my studio.  He's painted, patched, put up a wall, built a counter and sink area for washing dogs and continually adds this and that for me.  Got to thank my father-in-law for helping with the majority of that too!


My current project involves raising funds for my cattle dog spay/neuter fund at the local low cost animal clinic.  I'm begging people to sponsor months of a calendar.  Their donation will pay for printing.  Then all sales will go directly into the fund.  Only have 6 months left!


Speaking of cattle dogs, this cutie was brought to the studio by her foster mom last weekend.

We're hoping to find her a permanent home!  Fingers crossed!


The kids are doing well.  I caught Penelope and Harley in a moment of harmony which is pretty rare with those two!

And the cattle are doing well too.  We have the yearling bulls at the house.  The rest are at our lease place.  We've gotten lots of rain this spring so grass was abundant!  Great change from last year!