Month: August 2012

Brian

This fellow is named Brian.  His family wanted us to know:

I thought it was time for me to tell you about our sweet, adorable, precious and adventurous Brian. I have absolutely fallen for him!!! First of all thanks so much for your kind words, you made blush!! So, let me tell you about our puppy.

He is doing very, very well. We started crate training him from the first night he came home. Adam slept in the downstairs livingroom to keep Brian company so he would not feel too lonely. It was priceless to see Brian in his crate and Adam on the sofa, both sound asleep. I played nature sounds music to Brian for the first two weeks so that he could feel as though he was back at the farm! We still leave the radio on for him at night, and a fan! He gets pretty hot.

Marcel started walking him on a leash right away, he fought a bit for the first 2 days and then he was doing just fine! Let me tell you he’s a good student. Very, very smart, learns quickly and tries to get away with stuff with me and Adam, but he knows Marcel won’t let him get away at all, he, he. He loves his crate, he willingly goes in at night and whenever we have to step out for short periods of time. He is eating and growing very, very well. He truly is another blessing in our house. I still say to myself, is this for real? He is such a good puppy. I do have to credit much to you Dear Margaret-Ann, you did such a great job in raising him the first 2 months that for us, it was a continuation from where you left off.

We have been to Drumheller with him and last week we went to Jasper! He gets car sick during the first hour of the trip, then he’s fine. He loves riding in the front seat with me as he gets to sit on my lap and loves the wind blowing on his face. He would make a perfect “Loreal” hair commercial, ha, ha, ha.

Potty training is going well, he is on schedule and also barks from his cage at 6am to let us know that he has to go bathroom. He is amazing, he barks when he has to go bathroom now. We’ve had accidents of course, but it just keeps getting better. We will be getting our landscaping done in a couple of weeks!! can’t wait! Now that the 3 weeks have passed since his last shot, we take him to the pond. We exercise him 2 or more times per day. He is so much fun and is a great companion to Adam. We absolutely love this little fellow, he is playful, very lovable, cute as a a button and very loyal. When Marcel and I get home from work, he is the first one to come running and say hello, what a gift that is, to see how happy and excited he is to see us. He does not lick, which is great, Thanks MA for teaching him well!

He is growing so fast! We took him to a doggie park this past week for the first time and he had a ball! He jumped in the water with 2 other dogs, but as quickly as he jumped in he came out! Water was a bit too cold for him, I guess. Marcel gives hims baths in lukewarm water. He loves to sleep right in front of the fan, so cute! I am attaching a few more photos so that you can see for yourself how much he’s grown already.

We are such proud parents! Anyone that sees him comments on how beautiful and cute he is! The best part, HE IS 1,000% hypoallergenic, I can say no shedding or very little, even when we brush him, there’s hardly any hair on the brush!!! I could not believe it, we don’t have hair in the furniture, or our clothes, we mostly end up with paw prints from the dirt that very quickly gets stuck on Brian’s paws when he goes for his walks, ha, ha, which is quite alright, they are marks of love all over our clothes from all the affection we get from our Brian.

Thank you so much MA for our Brian, he adds so much to our family. Whenever I talk to people I tell them about you and the fantastic job you do with your puppies. I did not want a puppy, and now I say, how did I live all these years without one! Brian has also been good for my health, he calms me right down, he makes me feel loved, happy and relaxed whenever I pet him, I get a sense of peace and love, ahhhhh, can you tell how much I love this little fellow. Adam keeps saying “Mom can you believe how lucky we are! he’s is adorable!” Well, dear MA, I best get going now, I thought I would write a paragraph or two, and ended up writing a long letter!! That’s me, I can’t stop once I get started. We will write you again and will send you more photos of Brian, now it’s our turn to keep you posted, he, he.

Gus

Gus’s family sent us this pictures and a little update:

I have attached a picture of Gus from August when we spent a day canoeing down the North Saskatchewan river. This was taken during our lunch break. He is a good guy and is doing very well.

I think that he has stopped growing and is 70 lbs. How does this compare to Darby, Einstein, and Gus` siblings? About 3 weeks ago we were in the woods and he got about 1,000 burrs on his fur. I thought that I could brush them out but this was impossible. My daughter Connie (who was with me when we met you to pick up Gus on highway 16) and I spent about 2.5 hours giving him a hair cut to get the burrs out. Shelley thinks he looks like a girl now.

He is getting better at catching the Frisbee and loves to fetch… until he sees another dog that is.

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Gus is one of Darby’s/Einstein’s pups from last year. She is due any minute with her last litter but this time she is bred to Cesar, the chocolate Standard Poodle. Gus’s owners sent us a “first birthday” update:

I thought that I would send you an update on Gus since his first birthday was yesterday (Feb. 17). Gus was from Darby and Einstein`s litter last year. Gus is a great dog. We have completed basic obedience and he is doing well with all of the basic commands. Recall is a challenge if there are distractions however. He is becoming a good frisbee retriever and loves to retrieve a duck toy that we have.

He thrives in our busy house and gets 3 walks every day. My daughters and wife have a schedule for walks and I take the evening shift each day and most weekend walks. I plan to soon enroll us in the beyond basics obedience class.

I have attached 2 photos. The one with the boots is from November and the one in front of the door is from yesterday just before we gave him a trim. He is 64 lbs.

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This is Gus! He lives in Edmonton and is one of Darby and Einstein‘s Feb. 17th. pups. His happy owners told us:

I thought that you may like to hear an update regarding Gus and I have attached a picture of him from today.

He is quite a happy puppy and he has been enjoying having family around all day long (since it is still summer). He typically has 3 walks per day but on the particularly hot days he only goes for two. It seems that he is not interested in a mid afternoon walk when it is very warm. There is a creek in the ravine near our house that he likes to play in. Also, he did a little swimming in Sylvan Lake this summer. He seemed to be a natural at it.

Tomorrow we have an appointment for him to be neutered. Not a happy day, but hopefully it all goes well.

He continues to get along really well with other dogs, and enjoys playing and romping around. In September we will probably sign up Gus for obedience school so that he learns a few more commands.

He is great at sleeping in his kennel every night, and also is well trained for not having accidents in the house.

Marty

This is Marty.  He is from Daisy and Einstein‘s May 4, 2012 litter.  His owners wanted us to know:

Marty is amazing!!
He is so smart he stays right  with us on our many journeys hiking and fishing he met his first fish yesterday.
He heels,sits and comes already!
He is a real Lovey not Hyper at all.
He’s so funny he keeps trying to swim with me and My Golden but is very awkward at it.
The bottom line is he is a delight and incredibly smart with an awesome demeanor!

Chance (Saskatoon)

This happy little fellow is named Chance. He is one of Daisy and Einstein‘s pups from their May 4th, 2012 litter. Chance lives in Saskatoon with a cat named Mr. C. Chance’s owners wrote us on a few occasions, and here is what they had to say:

I can hardly believe that we have had Chance three weeks!

I think for his age he has made great accomplishments. He has not had an accident in the house for a long time and goes to the door when he wants out. Even gives a little bark if we are not prompt to his beckon. He knows sit and down and is very aware of his name however at times chooses to ignore our call. He also knows that when he comes in from outside he needs to sit and have his feet wiped. At times he is a little exuberant and forgets so he has to repeat the process. Last night I put him on the table and he sat through his combing like a trooper. Bill told him how handsome he was after and he almost pranced.

The hair was getting quite long on the bottom of his feet and beginning to cover his pads so he has had his first trim. We gave him a toy to chew while we did it. I need to go to the internet and get some instruction I think. I was out of canned puppy food this morning so thought that Chance could just have his dry food, however he looked so offended without the hot moist breakfast that I made him oatmeal porridge. He was delighted with the menu. Please tell me if oatmeal is not good for him as he really thinks it is. He really does likes a warm breakfast. We could hardly believe that he slept through Wednesday night and although he did need to go out last night he slept in until 8 a.m.this morning.

 

Thanks for continuing to care about Chance and our ongoing saga with our wonderful puppy.

And later, they wrote:

Chance was funny when the rain was coming down, the cat ran to the patio door to catch a large size dragon fly on the outside screen, and in the process tipped over the fan. Scared himself and took off running across the floor which, in turn scared Chance who turned to race away with him but did not clear the coffee table. With a yipe he ran to Bill needing a pickup and to sit on his knee for a minute. You will remember “Baby Huey” ….

Since we were told “sit & shake a paw” is old school, Chance has learned to “sit and high five” this week when accepting a treat. A dog has to be with the in-crowd.

 

Chance made his first excursion out to Blackstrap campgrounds today and practised coming to his name when called. In his exuberance for the next treat, continues to second guess the game by returning to the other person before being called. Hopefully he becomes more consistent in coming when called to his name. We have been told that should improve after 12 weeks.