New Year's Day - pups leave tomorrow...

This is the Grand Dame (and great-grandmother to these pups), our first breeder, Piniella. She will be 8 years old in April. Piniella whelped 5 litters and sent a total of 46 pups out to puppy raisers. So far, she has two breeders (Kittredge and Auburn) and 15 graduates with 1 pup (Astro) still in Hearing AT. Piniella was purchased from a breeder in Washington and was named for Lou Piniella who was the Seattle Mariners' manager at that time. Piniella was featured in the CCI Mariners' calendar at 8 weeks and a year later - both times with Lou Piniella. Piniella loves long walks on the beach, lots of attention, and playing ball.


It looks like I woke up the gang during nap time - and all I wanted was a photo of them sleeping! Dennis and I have vowed to oil our door hinges before the next litter since there is no sneaking around with this troop.

Lunch time at the Daniel house. It's interesting to watch the gang eat - some of them get right to it, some stop to play in between bites, some lie down for their meals, and some have to sit down to think about it.

Halor is without a doubt the smartest dog I've ever been around. She literally talks to you with her facial expressions and amazing eye contact. She was raised by Helen Wirfel in Concord, CA and can do anything you ask of her. She is Piniella's granddaughter by Kittredge, a CCI breeder from our first litter. Hal is a very tall and lanky gal who is always on the thin side. She has a beautiful silky golden coat and huge brown eyes. Halor's mom is Martine and her name was a combination of Martine's b/c's dad's name (Hal O. Roth) ~ we call her Hallie, Hallie Berry, Halzor, or Hal. Hal loves to go places, but really, she just wants to play - she'll play anything, anywhere, with anyone. She can do weave poles, jump through hoops, and LOVES to play ball. One of her favorite games is bringing me everything the cat knocks off of flat surfaces. They are a tag team on a mission.

Today, Ira learned just how much fun he could have with the tennis ball - and he didn't let anyone else play with it. He just picked it up and took off with it.

Ingrid and Halor playing with a toy.

Ingrid with Hal (teaching who's the boss).

Ingrid and Hallie just hanging out.

Tomorrow morning, we pack up the gang and head for Santa Rosa. Today, I tried to figure out how I would fit our 160 pounds of puppies into my Highlander. This is the first time I found myself wishing for my bigger SUV back! So, the solution is 3 in one crate, 2 in each of 2 crates and one in a single crate. I'll let you know how it goes...