Ingrid has checked in!

Dear Mama Halor,

Hey, it's me - Ingrid! My PR's just showed me all the pictures of my siblings - neat! I really liked the pictures of everybody swimming. I am really healthy and enjoying the weather in Orlando. People must think I've got a sun burn because my hair is turning toasty red/brown. I only have one picture to share today. I was feasting on roast duck (imitation) at my 6 month birthday party. I will have a lot more pictures to share pretty soon - my trip to the farm; my new CCI girl friend Alanis; my new boy friend Hugger (don't worry mom, he is neutered); Florida's beautiful flowers (I think they call them high biscuits or something like that. I'll write again soon,

Love,Ingrid

Inca and Irish

I found some early April pictures of Inca who was staying with Onalee's puppyraiser. Onalee is a sibling of Otis and Okelani who are being raised in San Diego. So that is the long story as to how I would have pictures of Inca. I can't believe our little puppies are already 6 months old. Irish is spending the weekend celebrating like he usually does playing with friends and then sleeping. He is going through a phase (at least I hope its a phase) where he cannot even remember his name let alone a command. Fortunately most of the dogs in his class are in the same phase. He still remembers his manners when he is out in public and at work so I guess I should be thankful. Thank you so much to Patty for giving me some pointers on how to curb Irish's "singing". It seems to be working.

Irish had to go to an all day meeting with me this week and he was a real trooper.

Izzy is 6 months old!

But no birthday party for her - yesterday was Jon's big day! Izzy had a taste of what's to come as a puppy in training... we drove for about an hour, had lunch as In and Out, then drove for another 30 minutes to the California Maritime Academy for Jon's graduation. I'm not sure that Izzy had been in such a crowded area before and she did pretty well. We left home about 10:00 and got back at 6:30 - long day for Izzy, but she was a trooper.

This is the graduation class of 2008 at Cal Maritime.

Of course, no graduation ceremony is complete without the tossing of the hats!

Jon and Izzy

We went to Chevy's afterwards for a "light snack!" Below are Chris and Anthony with Izzy.

Did I mention that this was Izzy's first day without lunch? She's a big girl now!

I think Izzy had her eye on something better than kibble...

Oh, and Mom, Halor, went into heat on Saturday which should mean pups sometime in the first half of July!! I'll keep you posted.

Big Birthday Bash

Yesterday we went to the largest fenced yard we could find. It's a state park that is all fenced and has a lot of room to run. We had five women and nine dogs. Shown here are Aria, Audra (behind Aria), Exchange, Natoma, Izzy (in front of Halor), Piniella, and Teddy. Not pictured is Zadie, the Catahoula Leopard Dog (yes, that's a real breed). All pups in the photo are CCI related dogs except Teddy and Zadie. Piniella turned eight on Friday so this was her birthday party. Piniella is mom to Aria and Natoma, grandmother to Halor, and great-grandmother to Izzy. We walked about 2 1/2 miles to a swimming hole:

This was Izzy's first exposure to water. She walked right in and started puppy splashing. Before long, she was right in there with the pack, swimming and chasing tennis balls. Zadie just got her feet wet, but all others were happy to swim in the very cold water.

This is Audra, who is a former CCI graduate. She came to the party with Monica, seen below, talking to Izzy while Cheryl has lunch. Audra's scarf says exactly what she is thinking in this photo: "JUST THROW THE BALL!"

Exchange seemed to take a particular liking to Halor which I suppose is not too surprising since they were the only breeders in the crowd.

All of the dogs has perfect manners and got along well. As we walked along, they took every opportunity to extend their swimming time.

This is what the day was all about ~ a big fun dog party.

Irish update

We had one of our annual fundraisers this weekend, Woofstock. Its held in the big city park and has lots of vendors, agility trials, flyball and other dog related activities. The weather was hot but picture perfect and everyone seemed to have a great time. Irish and I worked the CCI booth for a few hours and he spent most of his time sleeping. He managed to get himself photographed a lot but thought I'd share just a few with you. I am looking at the pictures and he's always laying down. I promise he does stand up and even runs. Hopefully this summer he will learn to swim so you all can see that he does have legs and does use them.