Halor's pups

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY

2009-10-27T09:17:00.000-07:00

The I litter turned two on Sunday so I wanted to wish them a happy belated birthday. All are doing great from what Mama Halor tells us.I was able to go out a few weeks ago to visit with Irish and he is doing great. According to his handler, Irish celebrated his birthday by a morning run followed by a mid day swim and topped off the day with gifts and cake (doggie cake).

Irish reported that the weather in the desert has finally cooled down a bit so he is able to get outdoors more often and he is extremely happy with his new working life.

Izzy applies for a new job

2009-10-12T11:25:00.001-07:00

We have had a fabulous summer with four and a half dogs at our house. Izzy came home from advanced training the same day Laurie joined the family as our newest (8th) puppy in training. I say 4 1/2 because we are co-raising Laurie with Kerry and Paul who live about 90 miles away in Chico, CA.

But, as summer is coming to an end and we look forward to one more litter with Halor, we have come to the conclusion that as much as we love Izzy, we raised her to have a job and if she can get one (in this tough economy), she needs to become a productive member of society - not just a fun and entertaining free-loader.

Through some very complex connections, I was put in touch with a woman in Carlsbad who is very active in the Delta Society, Paws4Healing and HOPE AACR. Susan had two Goldens she used for these activities and unfortunately, lost one about a year ago. Susan has been on the lookout for a female Golden to do this work with her and her male Golden.

So, keep your fingers and paws crossed that Izzy's paws are big enough to be able to fill the huge void left by Jasmine and this new career works out for her.

Friday night we had a mini-going away party for Izzy. Laurie's sister Lovey was in town with her puppy raisers, Janice and Dan - who graciously agreed to allow hitchhiker Izzy to tag along with them in their 5th wheel to Southern California. Jeff and Kathy joined us in the festivities with their pups-in-training Monroe and new baby Tessa.

In this photo: Piniella and some members of her family (left to right) - Piniella, great grandson Monroe (x Randy), granddaughter Halor (Kittredge x Martine), great grandaughters Laurie and Lovey (x OMSI), and great granddaughter Izzy (x Sequoia).

Here's Dan with Izzy and Lovey as they get ready to leave. Good luck, Izzy!

fyi:

http://www.deltasociety.org/

http://www.paws4healing.org/

http://www.hopeaacr.org/

I just can't explain it!

2009-09-27T09:17:00.000-07:00

I forgot about the blog, or... I haven't made time to blog, or... I have too many dogs to blog, or... I really have no good excuse for not blogging. For any of you that have been checking this blog for something new, I totally apologize for ignoring the blog.

So, some news ~ CCI seems to have released every single "I" puppy. Halor and Sequoia's gorgeous and entertaining I-pups just didn't cut it, I guess, and have gone on to way better things, having much more fun.

Two of the "I" pups have actually found meaningful employment outside of CCI. Congratulations to their puppy raisers and to them for continuing to strive to provide service to their communities. Irish, as you know, is working at the Betty Ford Center in Palm Desert. Ingrid, has become a hearing dog through training outside of CCI and with their blessing. I received the following note from Frederick and Adrienne, Ingrid's puppy raisers:

Finally, some photos of Ingrid in her new cape in her new role as Frederick's personal Hearing Alert Service Dog.

At 9:00 AM on June 30 -the toast was burning; Adrienne ran into the kitchen; Fred ran after her asking "what's wrong?"; She said, with her hands over her ears, "THE SMOKE ALARM IS SOUNDING!" Fred said, "I don't hear a thing; I think it is time for me to get a hearing dog".

Fast Forward to 2:00 PM on June 30 -The phone rings; (Fred didn't hear that either)

The CCI Puppy Program Manager called;"I'm sorry, we are RELEASING Ingrid";

Why? "FEAR ISSUES" We both replied, "she is welcome to come back home!" Sooo, with CCI's permission and the assistance of a professional trainer from Best Paw Forward, we are clicker training Ingrid to become Fred's personal Hearing Alert Service Dog.

Wag, Shake, Woof, Lick, Sluuurp!

Fred, Adrienne and the happy, healthy Ingrid III

some say it's done with museum wax...

2009-05-23T21:33:00.000-07:00

And, I could show you the other 80 or so photos, but this is about as good as it gets on an eight puppy-butt bench with nine puppy-butts. We got by with a little (lots, really) help from our friends: Cindy came over and was the official photographer while Thann and Bruce helped Dennis and me wrangle puppies. We all had a great time and the puppies were totally worn out after their "puppytography" session. I think Bruce actually mastered the "pot-banger" job. Many thanks to all, it does take a village.

From left to right: Lillith, Locke, Laurie, Louie, Lupe, Linus, Leah, Lovey, and Loralee (who only fell off the end about five times!)

Oh my gosh - they are so fun!

2009-05-23T21:28:00.000-07:00

What a bunch of chow hounds!

In order, left to right ~ Laurie, Lovey, Lillith, Locke, Loralee, Louie, Lupe, Leah, and Linus

6 weeks old and too cute!

2009-05-12T17:52:00.000-07:00

Gotta love 'em at this age!!

"L" pups are almost 6 weeks old!

2009-05-10T16:47:00.000-07:00

"L" Puppy Line-up

2009-05-03T09:25:00.000-07:00

I put the visiting college students/grad to work last night and lined up the pups...

In birth order, from left to right: Laurie, Lovey, Lillith, Locke, Loralee, Louie, Lupe, Leah, and Linus.

Holding them are Anthony, Chris, Jon, Jack, and Kendra!

Finally ~ some new photos

2009-05-02T07:38:00.000-07:00

I apologize right up front for not updating this blog a little more often. I'm taking photos on a regular basis, but they just don't seem to get out of the camera, through the editing process and up on the blog. By the time I have some photos, the pups have changed so much, the photos aren't very good representations - cute puppy photos, though! I'm going to throw a few random photos up now and hopefully, I'll have some photos from this weekend and a video up by Sunday night. They will be 5 weeks old on Monday and everyone is weighing in between 3.5 and 4 lbs.

pups in a bin

Lillith

pups playing

pup on a frozen water bottle

puppy pile

pups eating first meal

pup in a dish

aerial view of first meal

Hal's kids are getting busy!

2009-04-19T20:23:00.000-07:00

Turf Wars

2009-04-19T16:17:00.000-07:00

Halor's large "L" pups will be 3 weeks old tomorrow - what an amazing group! As you can see, they are beginning to outgrow the feeding trough. Seems like there is always one looking to steal another's spot.

Loveable "L" Pupdate with NAMES!!

2009-04-12T15:03:00.000-07:00

Our dogwood is in bloom, so what better backdrop?

Miss Red

aka "Laurie"

Miss Blue

aka "Lovey"

Miss Purple
aka "Lillith"

Mr. Neon Green

aka "Locke'

Miss Neon Pink

aka "Loralee"

Mr. Brown

aka "Louie"

Miss Light Pink
aka "Lupe"

Miss Turquoise
aka "Leah"

Mr. Orange

aka "Linus"

Some Random L shots

2009-04-08T19:26:00.000-07:00

Seven Mr. Magoos...

Mr. Brown

Mother/daughter shot

Puppy toes

Miss Purple and Miss Neon Pink -
they're all at 2 lbs and wearing kitty collars now!

Lively "L" pups are one week old

2009-04-06T14:33:00.000-07:00

These kids are thriving!

I just couldn't resist the big blue surrogate mother!

Litter photos are such fun and so elusive! The "L" pups had their first real photo shoot last night - they are in birth order from left to right (supposedly matching their associated pastel toys)

Counting Halor's babies before birthing

2009-04-02T17:32:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to downloading my flip videos and this turned out better than expected. This is an x-ray of Halor's mid-section about a week before her puppies arrived. If you look closely, you can see the spines and skulls of the puppies. During the first count, you can see that my friend Mo puts a dot on eight skulls. She went back to double check and found one that she missed, so we had a good idea to expect nine puppies. We do these x-rays just to get an estimate as to how many puppies to expect at whelping time - sometimes the count is one over or one under, but it's a good idea to be prepared.

Halor delivers... on March 30 - three days late

2009-03-31T16:52:00.000-07:00

Mom Halor

Dad OMSI III

Resting between labor sessions...

First six puppies - that big blue girl was 20+ ounces

making progress!

and the beautiful 9th baby, a boy...

Announcing, Halor and OMSI's new litter ~ 9 lovable "L" babies

Nine golden retrievers - in CCI colored yarn collar birth order:

red - girl

blue - girl

purple - girl

neon green - boy

neon pink - girl

brown - boy

light pink - girl

turquoise - girl

orange - boy

Things to do while waiting for puppies to arrive

2009-03-31T16:23:00.000-07:00

Since Halor and OMSI's pups were due on Friday, March 27, I took the day off.....

Teach Eileen to drive the tractor

Watch Eileen doing our work (no, Dennis didn't charge her a quarter!)

Gather eggs

Hang out in the whelping pool

Mow the countryside

Pick up the fallen oak branches for the mower

Peck around in the yard

Play the acorn game all day

Enjoy a beautiful evening in northern California

Build a bonfire

Sit and watch stuff burn

Izzy checks in

2009-03-21T08:52:00.000-07:00

Here in the Northwest Region, we don't begin receiving monthly reports until our pups have been in advanced training for about 1 1/2 months. Izzy started AT in February and the first month is usually spend doing health and temperament tests, getting the dogs settled into the kennels with roommates they can get along with, and letting the instructors get to know the dogs. The NWR does send us this letter to let us know all is well and they send along a 5x7 that was taken the morning of graduation. This is our photo with Izzy. These past 7 dog turn-in matriculation photos constitute just about the only "family portraits" we've ever done, so they are pretty valuable to me. The earlier ones have the kids in them, now, it's usually just Dennis and me with the latest pup.

News flash - pups are due next Friday (which with Hal, probably means Saturday). We're going for an x-ray on Monday morning. Can't wait to find out what's going on in there ~ she's huge!

some Marilyn photos

2009-03-15T12:04:00.000-07:00

Marilyn is the 7th puppy born to Halor and Randy. That litter was born July 11, 2008 and are growing up rapidly. Randy's puppy raiser asked for some photos, so I scanned these and am posting them for all to see. Marilyn had the biggest "nose-hawk" of the gang - her puppy raiser tells me she has to trim it!

Terrible things happen in the mail - this one took a hit somewhere. Marilyn looks a bit serious about the new year - or not too happy about wearing her hat.

Unfotunately, this photo got mangled also and I haven't learned "Elements" yet to correct them - that's on my list, though! Pretty, pretty Princess!

Izzy at Matriculation

2009-03-15T08:07:00.000-07:00

I just received this photo and I love how Izzy looks so I have to share. At our graduation ceremonies here in the Northwest Region, the pups that are turning in cross the stage while our puppy program manager reads off the puppy's name, the puppy raisers' names and where they are from. This was our big moment. As an update on our "I" puppies, our friend Irish has already decided to come home. Apparently, he didn't like the cuisine at the kennel and wanted to be home for St. Patrick's Day. Typical Irishman ~ we can't say that we blame him!

Carmel

2009-03-11T17:55:00.001-07:00

Maybe to the untrained eye... Halor looks like the athlete she really is. She still doesn't want to stop chasing the ball ~ ever.

But if you take a close look, and you know Hal, you can probably tell that she's looking a little "heavy." Perhaps, a little thick around the middle? Maybe somewhat rectangular?

Well, this is Halor on a glorious day last weekend at Carmel Beach. Carmel is located on Monterey Bay and is a terrific place to go with your dog - about a mile of off leash beach with all kinds of fun and different well-socialized dogs, all on the run doing something dogs do.

The town of Carmel is great, too. Totally dog friendly. We had lunch on the patio at the Cypress Inn where they have a hose for sandy dogs, a big dog bowl, dogs are welcome at the Inn and at 5:00pm - they hose "Yappy Hour." The stores allow you to shop with your dogs, too. We had a great day!

OK, so maybe she did take a quick rest - but just for a moment. And, remember - she was 2/3 of the way through her pregnancy. Due date ~ March 27!

This is Hal's pal "Exchange." The Change is a retired CCI breeder who is now happy to be "just" Hal's friend with no fringe benefits.

Exchange fathered many exchange students - what a handsome fellow!

Pat and Colby's brunch in Boston

2009-03-11T17:07:00.000-07:00

Colby and Pat - partners in supporting Dana-Farber

Cancer Research Center

Colby Tucker will be running in support of Pat at the Boston Marathon

This is Kealer, Piniella's son from her first litter and the reason I know Pat and Judy in Boston, MA

This is Newton, Kealer's younger brother from Piniella's 3rd litter, also puppy raised by Pat

Mary and Kealer. Mary and Pat are friends from way back.

Mako sure knows how to party! Mako is Halor's son from her third litter and is being raised by Pat (with a little help from Judy!)

Colby's dad, Al Tucker

Patty and Mako

Colby's mom, Judy, using a digital camera

Colby's race banner signed by the brunch crowd!

The rest of the story...

Pat has been a patient of Dana-Farber for the past year or so. Colby's friend's mom was a patient who lost her fight with cancer in December. Colby chose to forego baseball his senior year of college to try something completely different and run the Boston Marathon. So, Colby will be running in honor of his friend's mom and in support of Pat's battle. Pat hosted a brunch and silent auction to help Colby raise funds for Dana-Farber. So far, Colby has raised over $10K for Dana-Farber. Way to go Colby and thanks Pat and Judy for inviting me!

Which is more difficult?

2009-02-23T15:51:00.000-08:00

So which is it, lining up 8 week old puppies for photos or lining up 16 month old puppies and their puppy raisers? Two commands, really - sit and stand, plus "look at the camera!" (or in this case, about 6 cameras)

From left:
Ikris and Martha, Anita and Ivan, Sequoia and Sandy, Halor and Dennis, Izzy and Patty, Inca and Georgia

It's always somebody... Halor, SIT!

Something must have made Izzy and me laugh!

This one looks about the best!!

Irish

2009-02-23T08:39:00.000-08:00

IRISH III

As to being lean, Irish is right up there with Izzy. What a gorgeous group of puppies. We don't have our official picture yet as the photographer has been out of the country and hasn't posted them but here is an unofficial picture to add to the mix

So, do they look like your pups?

2009-02-22T21:55:00.000-08:00

This is a special blog just for Deb, Frederick, Adrienne, Vicki, and Darlene...

Here are the last four "I" pups the day of turn-in at NWR. They are a beautiful bunch of pups and we are so proud of all 8 of them. I thought you would enjoy these photos!

Izzy

Inca

Ivan

Ikris

Of these four, Izzy is the the leanest, Inca is the prettiest, Ivan is the biggest flirt, and without a doubt, Ikris is the biggest. We kept the singing to a minimum - thinking that was best. I have a few more photos I'll try to get posted in the next couple of days.

Off to Santa Rosa

2009-02-22T17:31:00.001-08:00

Izzy ~ Bed!

This princess knows how to live it up - I hope they have king size beds in AT.

Izzy plays in the SNOW

2009-02-12T19:59:00.001-08:00

Izzy and I went up to Yuba Gap over the past two days so that Izzy could experience some snow before she matriculates into Advanced Training on the 21st. We were invited to go snowshoeing with some friends to celebrate Cheryl's birthday. Sally was kind enough to open her cabin to all of us - six women and five dogs. I was excited to go - both for the snowshoeing and because it was a very fun group.

When we arrived there was about 18 inches of fresh snow on the ground and we were treated to another 6-8 inches after we got into the cabin. The snow was not your typical Sierra Nevada snow - it has been very cold so the snow was light, fluffy powder. Izzy took to the snow in a heartbeat and resembled a porpoise as she galloped through the deep snow.

When we got up this morning, the sky had cleared and it was beautiful outside. We went for another snowshoe walk - this time in the sun. Izzy got quite the workout as she ran and played in the snow with the other dogs.

We had a terrific time hiking in the beautiful place with good friends and great dogs. We did learn that our dogs tend to be natural hitchhikers and were often right at our heels and on our shoes! All in all, a great outing with perfect weather and way too much food.

Izzy does Disney(land)

2009-02-03T15:33:00.001-08:00

"I" is for Izzy!

The ultimate test for any CCI pup turning in to Advanced Training is a theme park. Talk about long days, big crowds, unusual sounds, strange smells, odd little kids, weird vehicles, and "fun" rides!

Izzy had no problems navigating the cargo nets!

Sooo, off we went to Disneyland last Friday. Izzy and I drove from Sacramento to Santa Cruz, picked up Chris and Anthony, then we all drove to LA, spent the night, I went to a meeting in Hawthorne, and we headed off for Anahiem.

While it might look like Izzy did the teacups, this is a fake ~ she did do the Jungle Cruise (didn't care for the gunshot), Pirates of the Caribbean (wasn't her favorite, but there's lots to see down there), and Buzz Lightyear (hopped right up in the seat and enjoyed the ride!). I think the Monorail was her favorite but she sure didn't understand those snakes under the seat in "Honey, I shrunk the Audience"

We checked into our hotel, had lunch and hit the parks. We didn't stop until the park closed Friday night and we were up and at it by 8:00am - early entry into Tomorrowland and Fantasyland.

After Anthony and Chris had their picture taken with this guy, Izzy met Buzz Lightyear and didn't even flinch - I was very proud of her!

I can't say enough great things about Disneyland and CCI pups in training. They are well-informed and extremely well-intentioned. Service animals are welcome anywhere in the park and in the hotels. I was never questioned once by an employee and Izzy proved to be the perfect guest. The one trick is finding appropriate places to toilet ~ this takes a very observant team and careful planning, but once you scout out some spots - you're A-OK.

Izzy was one tired girl at the end of the day.

DAVIS is GRADUATING!!

2009-02-03T15:21:00.000-08:00

Irish smiling

Davis and Halor

Wow, Saturday is a big day! Irish goes off to college and Davis is graduating. I guess it's sort of a bad news/good news thing if you think about it. Halor, Izzy and I sure wish we could be in Oceanside for the big day ~ we'd love to be there in person to see Irish off to college and congratulate Davis and his puppy raisers, Pam and Gary, for a job well done!

OK, which dog is going to AT next month?

2009-01-25T19:45:00.000-08:00

Will it be the nice, calm, quiet dog with the pleasant non-exciteable greeting?

Or, will it be the fun and wiggly, noisy, horribly voiced singing dog with the very exciteable greeting? Only time will tell....

I have to admit that I have a special place in my heart for the happy, wiggly, singing dog who steals the dog-catcher toy from her great-grandmother!

The Home and Landscape show

2009-01-25T19:30:00.000-08:00

Today we went to the Home and Landscape Show at Cal Expo. I neglected to take too many photos but these two were pretty important. Above, Izzy is pictured with the giant Golden Bear that scared her to death last September. Today, she took a look, was a tiny bit weary, but walked right up to the bear and did a perfect "up" on command. Later, she was happy to sit beside the scary beast and have her photo taken with him. Go Izzy!!

OK, this stuff is called "K9 Grass" and it is specifically designed with dogs in mind. I really want it but it's not cheap.... It's anti-microbial and won't break down with dogs playing wildly. One home that has it has 7 Great Danes. My favorite quote (from the salesman, I admit) ~ "I haven't wiped a muddy paw in a year." WOW!! Izzy walked right up and laid down (thank god, no "hurry!")

More recent photos of handsome brother Ira

2008-12-30T15:29:00.000-08:00

From Ira's puppy raiser:

Thanks for the great link-it is fun seeing these puppies all grown up-they are all beautiful and look so similar! Here are some more recent pictures of Mr. Ira, taken end of November. We are counting the weeks now, too, and trying to be stoic about it.

Darlene

More puppy class highlights

2008-12-27T13:12:00.001-08:00

I'm not sure who learns more at class ~ Izzy or me.... I did rediscover how hard it is to steer, push, command, and hold a leash. Whenever we have class in wheelchairs (especially on a slope) I get a renewed respect for wheelchair pushers!

Dog Christmas

2008-12-27T13:04:00.000-08:00

For quite some time I've been a fan of the $20 dog beds at Costco - but, over the years, they've been trashed, chewed up, and even peed on (I know - I hate having to admit that). So, I've been meaning to invest in indestructable and comfortable, cleanable dog beds. All my dog owner friends say these are them! So, for Christmas, we got THREE new Karunda beds (thinking positively, since Izzy turns in this February). They seem to be a huge success! One of the things our CCI golf tournament asked that the proceeds be spent on was Karunda beds for the kennels at NWR I don't know how many are there now, but there should be a bunch!

Isn't she lovely?

2008-12-21T15:01:00.000-08:00

This is Ingrid, Izzy's sister. She is absolutely gorgeous (even if she does hate baths!). Ingrid was helping at a CCI fundraiser in the Southeast Region where supporters could make gingerbread houses. Nice job, Ingrid!

Big Baking Day

2008-12-14T20:44:00.001-08:00

Well, about once a year we get domestic and do some baking. Today, Jon, Kendra, Jack and I baked about 8 batches of cookies. It was quite an undertaking. We did double batches of Spritz and Snickerdoodles, some chocolate kiss cookies, some peanut butter cup cookies, some chocolate chip cookies, some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and some magical mystic mint chocolate cookies.

Stuff was everywhere...

Cookies started piling up!

Jon and Jack made White Russians (yes, the beverages).

Halor and Izzy "tried" to stay out of the way (but of course, were right where I needed to be).

And, they couldn't help themselves from doing a little begging for cookies.

So, they had peanut butter "Noses" with banana in them. YUM!

Irish's friends, the aliens have traveled north

2008-12-14T20:37:00.000-08:00

and abducted Piniella, Halor, and Cayenne, while Cirie looks on... Yikes!

Way back when....

2008-12-14T20:22:00.000-08:00

The lovely Miss Piniella had 8 puppies by Baumann. Note the fifth pup from the left - Auburn.

Auburn is now all grown up and a breeder for CCI. Today, Auburn looks just like she did then... almost pure white with maybe a touch too much eyeliner and a very black nose.

Auburn has her second litter on the ground now and they are 5 weeks old. Izzy and I went over to lend a couple x-pens to Auburn's breeder/caretaker as it seems Auburn's brood needs a little more space.

Yep, that's right - TEN little black puppies. They are the "M" litter and their dad is Terrence, a Bobby dog with that double black dominant gene.

In case you're wondering how Miss P's litter did - Astro, Anson, Auburn (breeder), Averell, and Aero are all graduates!

We really do go to class...

2008-12-14T20:06:00.001-08:00

We spent a lot of time working on "stand" this past Saturday. Izzy was not all that proficient because I think I tend to forget about this command. She was pretty good at staying in a "stand" position, once she got there, but somewhat confused about going from sit to stand. I have to admit that saying "let's go" then stopping to practice "auto-sit" just to then be told to "stand" again, does seem like a bit of command overkill to me - so I can just imagine what Izzy thinks.

After some practice, she seemed to be getting it. After that - we moved on to Izzy's absolute favorite command ~ "BACK." Izzy loves "back" so much, that sometimes she adds a little "woof" to her backing. She can back from "heel, " from "side," from "here," and with an "out" ~ all without me moving my feet or adding any of that body English. If CCI dogs could graduate based on their backing ability, I would be feeling pretty smug (well, except maybe for that "woof" at the end).

We're having class at Sac State in the parking garage - a great place if it's raining, a bit cool and definitely a lousy photo location when it's sunny outside.

Gotta love that Sable!

2008-12-14T19:59:00.001-08:00

Sable loves to go out to the field with the other dogs. Most of the time, she and Piniella just do their own things - Piniella might dig a bit while Sable wanders around and just seems to enjoy the outing.

Every now and then, Sable decides she is going to enter the ball game. This is tough since it might be a bit like your grandmother deciding to go out and play catch with the pros at Yankee Stadium. Halor and Izzy are young, fast and totally focused (not to mention ball-hogs). Piniella waits to join the game until Hal and Izz have worn themselves out.

Here is Sable deciding to play ball. She stops wandering and starts looking for the next ball toss. When the other dogs run, she goes galloping after them. I don't think she sees all that well, but she seems happy to be doing what everyone else is doing. On the odd occasion that she gets the ball, she runs about 10 paces and drops it - leaving it for Hal to find later.

I'm way behind.....

2008-12-14T19:46:00.000-08:00

I've managed to get myself way behind... Just put up the Christmas tree yesterday - but, still no ornaments on it. Bought Christmas cards, but I'm out of ink, so I can't print the address labels, so that's as far as that project's gotten. I have a few posts for the blog, so I'm trying to catch up.

The other day, Cayenne and Cirie came over to play. This brother and sister team is about 6 months old and I don't think they'd ever had an experience like this one. My girls were happy for the company and before long, the two pups could hardly walk.

While the pups played, the puppy raisers yakked - as you can imagine. We discovered that Cirie and Cayenne are pups out of Rowina (mostly Golden but not quite) and Alijah (all Golden). Alijah is a male breeder out of Kittredge (all Golden). Kittredge, is a male breeder out of our Piniella and OMSI - PIniella's first litter, soooooo, everyone, except Sable, was related.

My friend Averell is raising Carol in Florida, so I'll send her this link of Carol's sibs playing at our house.

You might be able to tell from the video that Cayenne hasn't been to see the vet for that 6 month event most CCI boys don't look forward to ~ he definitely took a shine to Halor and Izzy and was more interested in them than the ball.

Please excuse Piniella's bad manners - that's just so unlike her!

Ingrid checks in

2008-12-14T16:07:00.000-08:00

Hi,

It's me, Ingrid. I just couldn't wait until Monday to tell you how exciting the Puppy Christmas Party was. I could hardly keep from barking! Of course, I was a little disappointed that with all that food there, us puppies didn't get nuttin, not even a frosty paw.

Oh well, getting a gift, playing games; getting my picture taken; seeing my best pal Alanis and the other puppies kind of made up for that..

But it even gets better than that! When we got home, my humans gave me a bath - not that I needed one, in my estimation.

Well, I went through my usual bath routine - you know, climbing, jumping, pushing, splashing, squirming, scratching, falling, fake-choking, moaning, groaning, crying, and pleading.

I actually managed to get out of the tub twice and did my famous violent shaking and rapid spinning act on the bath rugs. But here's the best part. Amazingly, instead of my humans getting frustrated with my antics like they usually do, I heard them say, "boy is this dog A WINNER!!!!"

Imagine that - they are going to give me an award or some kind of prize! In fact, they said on my turn in date they are going to attach a big bright red award (maybe it was spelled w-a-r-n-i-n-g) to my cape or collar. I couldn't read all the big words but I copied what the award says:

"WARNING, BEFORE BATHING INGRID - READ THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS!

~ CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN TO SEE IF YOU ARE PHYSICALLY ABLE TO ENGAGE IN THIS TYPE OF ACTIVITY.

~ DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PERFORM THIS ACTIVITY AT HOME.

~ DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PERFORM THIS ACTIVITY ALONE.

~ DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PERFORM THIS ACTIVITY WITH LESS THAN THREE STRONG HUMANS IN ATTENDANCE.

~ DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PERFORM THIS ACTIVITY ON SLIPPERY SURFACES.

~ DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS ACTIVITY IF YOU NEED ANY STRENGTH LEFT TO BATHE ANOTHER CANINE.

~ IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT YOU HAVE DOUBLE THE NORMAL AMOUNT OF TOWELS.

~ ALWAYS HAVE A FOURTH HUMAN AVAILABLE IN A SECURE AREA IN THE EVENT IT IS NECESSARY TO DIAL 911.

Disclaimer: Ingrid's Puppy Raisers do not guarantee that the above stated warnings and recommendations are a complete list of the precautions that need to be taken when bathing said canine. The puppy raisers bear no responsibility for any possible unsatisfactory results that occur as a result of attempting or actually performing this bathing activity.

Note from Izzy and Patty: What a bummer that there's no photograph of this fun event!

How Izzy Spent Thanksgiving

2008-12-02T19:34:00.000-08:00

Nothing better than a romp in the field with Mom ...

Hal even let Izzy win in the great tennis ball race ~ but only a couple of times

Not my best shot, but they are happy as long as I "chuck-it!"

And, of course, the obligatory holiday family portrait.

It was a beautiful day!

Oh Yeah, Izzy's home

2008-11-25T18:13:00.000-08:00

And it's not boring anymore....

Izzy is coming home Tuesday!!

2008-11-24T16:59:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

I found out today that I should be able to pick up Izzy at my friend's house on Tuesday about 4:00pm. I hope she hasn't forgotten everything she knew before she left home on her vacation/kennel visit. I can't wait to get her back, because, it's for sure - she's the most interesting of the girls.

On the egg front (I know everyone is just dying to here what's going on with the chickens), we had 5 eggs in a row - one each day Tuesday through Saturday. On Friday, we microwaved one and fed it to Halor. She really thought she made out on that deal. That, of course, prompted an email to Dr. Ruth, asking, "Just out of curiosity, is there any value or harm in giving the dogs an egg, either raw or cooked?" (after the fact, typical!). She promptly replied that the white should be fully cooked and one or two a week is fine. Then she added a typical Dr. Ruth-ism ~ "Watch their stools!"

On Sunday morning, we scrambled the remaining four eggs and split them between my friend Tracey, Dennis, and me. Darn good - but really, they tasted like eggs...

Sunday, apparently was a day off for whoever is the early-bird layer, as there were no eggs in the coop.

Today, major disappointment. Jon discovered that the rookie egg-layer doesn't seem to know a thing about gravity. It appeared that today's egg was laid on top of the little hen house, rolled down the roof and broke - VOILA!! ~ breakfast for all six. ; - (

This can be a very bad thing, because you don't want your hens to think eating their own eggs is a good thing - or you won't have any eggs for yourself or your friends or your dogs.

We're pretty sure that one of these gals is the beginner egg provider. Their names are "Dolly" and the other "Dolly" since we can't tell them apart. They are affectionately known as "The Dollies" and are Am Rocks.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Hopefully, our next post will be more about dogs.

XOXO

Patty,

Halor, Piniella, and Sable

It's boring around here without Izzy

2008-11-18T16:59:00.000-08:00

But, as you all know, we've been waiting and waiting for something really huge and exciting to happen around here and today is the BIG DAY!!

We don't know when exactly it happened or who did it ~ just that it was discovered late this afternoon. I went outside and there it was, like a miracle, just sitting in the dirt by the tree trunk. I was so thrilled, I picked it up and ran inside to show Jon. Together, we carried our surprise downstairs.

We set it on a pedestal and took its picture - just in time, as it turns out, because it rolled off the pedestal and cracked.... TOO FUNNY!!

Our entertainment factor has risen and we are off and running, expecting more great things from our six chickens! YEAHHH!

Latest Izzy news

2008-11-03T17:20:00.000-08:00

It's sort of a good news/bad news story today, with no photos. Dennis and I went on vacation and Izzy went to stay with friends and puppy raisers Paul and Kerry. She had a terrific time and we were looking forward to picking her up when we got back. On Saturday came the email from our son that Izzy had gone into heat. We knew it was coming ~ just not when.

As it happens, this is a great time for Izzy to go into heat - she can be there, get her hips x-rayed, get her one year shots, and still come home in time for about 2 1/2 months of training before February turn-in. The bad news is that Izzy went on the CCI underground railroad from Chico to Lincoln to Rocklin to Santa Rosa without a stop in Cameron Park. We managed to get her a ticket which was good for us travel time and gas-wise, but I feel really bad that I won't see her for another 3 or so weeks.

So, it's nice to be back home but it's a bit sad to be without our girl Izzy. The other three girls are happy to have us here and even might be happy to not have Izzy... Skippy is thrilled to have someone who pays attention to him back in the house and the chickens did quite well under Jon's care.

Happy Birth "I" sibs

2008-10-25T10:23:00.000-07:00

Hey its me Irish. Can you believe it???? WE ARE ONE YEAR OLD TODAY. Seems like just yesterday we were all hanging out by the Clifford Slide and lining up for our Christmas pictures. Now here we are scattered all across the country. But I wanted to make sure that all of you knew that I was thinking of you on your birthday (hey's its the same as mine).

Do your humans make you wear party hats for pictures? Can you tell that I am not pleased with this hat? I am sending evil thoughts through my eyes to the person behind the cameraPOOF, see it worked. Here I am in a perfectly sane and mature pose in front of the banner without the silly hat. So sibs, keep that in mind. If you don't want to do something, stare at the human with your best evil eyes that you can and you won't have to do it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY "I" LITTER. HOPE YOUR DAY IS GREAT

YOUR MATURE BROTHER----IRISH

OMG! Shocking news (did I say shocking? cuz I really meant SAD!!! news)

2008-10-12T11:34:00.000-07:00

We got THE LETTER yesterday - totally unexpected, totally shocked and totally unready were we to hear that Izzy and Inca's turn in date is in February. YIKES!!!! The letter had a reason that didn't make sense (who's surprised), but I'm hearing through the grapevine that NWR has 10 new apprentices that need dogs, so there are some dogs turning in this November who thought they were at least February dogs and Izzy and Inca (don't know about Ikris and Ivan also in NWR) will go in this February. How fast the time goes by when you're languishing and thinking you have until MAY!

OK, so we still have several months until February, but Izzy left yesterday to stay with her BFFs Kerry and Paul in Chico while Dennis and I go on vacation on Thursday (unlike Irish and Bill, she has to stay in the US). Besides that, she still hasn't gone into heat, so there's 3 weeks of possible training that will be wasted between now and then. Yikes, my baby is not ready for this (nor am I).

irish checks in

2008-10-09T12:33:00.001-07:00

I am not nearly as proficient at commands as my sister Izzy but what I lack in style I make up for with my devilishly handsome good looks. So here goes

IRISH JUMP (are you sure this bench is safe??)

IRISH DOWN (I will but I feel like I'm gonna fall off)

IRISH UNDER (Now this command I like)

Hope all my brothers and sisters (and of course Mom) are doing great. Looking forward to some winter shots from my northeastern siblings.

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses...

2008-09-15T15:05:00.000-07:00

Well, it was a very hot day and the puppies were tired, and we couldn't find the right light, and the camera didn't take photos fast enough, and the puppies didn't want to sit in the sun, and yada, yada, yada.... but here is how the photo shoot went:

come on guys, stay on the bench...

hey, aren't there supposed to be eight of them?

Look UP!!

Stay PUT!

Stop LAUGHING at us!

ALMOST!

well, that might be the best we can do....

Izzy at work (at home)

2008-09-07T16:36:00.001-07:00

Izzy Jump!

Izzy Down!

Izzy Under!

Puppy Days

2008-09-07T13:44:00.000-07:00

Running Pups

Playing Pups

Eating Pups

Sleeping Pups

Just in case you forgot ~

2008-09-05T15:21:00.001-07:00

Here are some recent photos of Randy IV, father of our latest babies:

Dennis and I are trying to figure out if we just have a great system going or if these pups are really as nice and easy as they seem....

We tend to think it's the "Randy factor" but it might be because we had those "I" puppies until they were 10 weeks old and we just don't remember the first 8 weeks.

Whatever the reason - this is our 8th litter and they are terrific pups - cute to look at (what pups aren't?) and especially easy to care for. Our baby "M"s head for Santa Rosa on Monday. Lots of folks ask if that's hard to do - but, no, we know that it's time for them to meet their new families and start learning their new stuff.

Highlights of Izzy's day

2008-09-03T20:44:00.001-07:00

I'm sure this is how Izzy sees her activities every day... she doesn't remember all of the times she had fun or got into trouble! Just the same old routine evey single day.

Random Puppy Photos

2008-09-02T16:07:00.000-07:00

Morrison

Monroe in the pool (nobody really liked the

wading pool with water in it)

Everybody loves the wading pool without water in it

Are you my mother? (Halor, Sable, and Piniella), asked Martine

Marilyn, who has a "nose-hawk" ala Ingrid's, but bigger!

Molly

Puppy socializers Lauren and Christina

Puppy chew toy, Cheryl

Hallie's borrowed dress

2008-08-29T20:56:00.000-07:00

We borrowed this lovely dress for Hallie so that she could spend time with her puppies and dry up at the same time. Piniella used to tell her puppies to quit nursing (in no uncertain terms) but Hal will just stand there forever and let them nurse. Pam was nice enough to lend us this lovely and fashionable frock - I think Hal decided she'd rather stay in the house than be embarrassed and miserable in this hot, blue sock-dress. It sure worked, tho - the pups gave up and left her to go play.

Skip's visit

2008-08-29T19:46:00.001-07:00

A funny thing happened to Sable the other day when Skip and his sister Lori came to visit. We visited in our garage where Sable could hang with Skip in his power chair and Lori could see both Sable and the puppies. I brought out the pups a couple at a time and all of them greeted Sable the same way ~ by trying to nurse. Sable was pretty patient for a while but then she growled at them. Skip said that in the 10+ years he had Sable - that was the first time he ever heard her growl!

Skip is greeting Mallory who was not at all phased by the heavy equipment!

Somehow, I didn't get a photo of Lori who was visiting Skip from the Palm Springs area. It was great to meet her and terrific to spend more time with Skip. Sable enjoyed the visit, too. Skip brought me a gift that I'll have to take a picture of and post on here - it's particularly special!

We heard from Dennis (Hal's pup) today!

2008-08-29T19:40:00.000-07:00

Sherry checked in with the following:

Hi All,

This is an update on Dennis. Dennis is still in AT in NE. Hurrah !!! Just got his latest report that said the following "Dennis is progressing, can be goofy and mouth your hands at time. Gets along great with other dogs. We are still working on the retrieve and he is progressing."

I'm thrilled that he is still there because of his crate/kennel issues, I thought he would be released after the first week!! But he has settled in very well. I have attached a picture that was sent to me from NE of Dennis at the new NE center. I had a friend check and she said that Davina is also still in training at NE. I was so surprised to meet Davina at turn in last May because she is half the size of Dennis. She is very small but other than that they looked a lot alike.

Keeping my fingers crossed for the D's still in training.

Sherry

Note from Patty ~ Hooray for the new NER Miller Campus in Medford. I have been to the former campus and just about anything is definitely an improvement. I'm sure the new facility will turn out lots more service dogs! Thanks Sherry for sending the info and the note.

I did hear from Diora's puppy raiser. Diora is still in AT at NWR and is doing well ~ Helen said she is very proud of her!

I am so behind!

2008-08-28T21:49:00.000-07:00

I don't know where this week went, but it's almost over and I haven't posted a single baby photo. So, here's a single baby photo as a teaser. One of our friends and fellow puppy raisers, Kathy (yes, another one!), came over to see the pups. Here, she is holding Mason while Monroe, Molly, Martine and Marilyn stand by for a turn in her lap.

We found out today that Monroe will be staying here in the GRC with another Kathy - still waiting to hear about Marilyn, Mason, Mallory and Molly. We know that Martine is going to North Carolina - gives me a reason to visit my friend Gail in Charlotte and maybe meet Martine's new PRs. Mako is going to Boston and Morrison is going to Virginia.

The pups are just wonderful. They seem easier than previous litters - happy, quiet, and good poops (fingers and paws crossed). Hopefully, I'll get some more photos up tomorrow.

A Golden Advertisement

2008-08-21T16:50:00.000-07:00

This isn't one of our Goldens, but a nice looking one, none the less!

So, I tried to get some work done...

2008-08-19T17:45:00.001-07:00

Along with moving the puppies outside, comes cleaning up the area inside... So, while I was moving stuff around, Izzy kept herself busy.

And, since we couldn't locate the mud hole right away, she had a bath not once, but twice - I could have taken the exact same picture the second time around... Never a dull moment!

Busy Weekend, Big Move

2008-08-18T19:37:00.001-07:00

I headed off to Santa Rosa on Friday afternoon for NWR graduation. They have a great Friday night reception which is a fun opportunity to see a lot of the friends I have gotten to know over the past 10 years. We had our usual "post-reception" get together in our favorite hotel lobby and then called it a night.

I helped with turn-in photos on Saturday morning, then let Izzy run in the play yard and headed for graduation. After about 30 minutes of visiting, Izzy and I decided to head home to help Dennis - so we sort of ditched graduation... I'm sure we weren't missed - there was a big crowd!

When I got home, Dennis and I began transforming the ex-dog-run turned-chicken run-turned dog run into the puppy run. Even though they aren't quite running all that well - I'm sure you'll agree that they needed more space.

Here, half are sleeping and half are playing. They are fluffy enough now that it's hard to see who is who in photos and my memory isn't good enough to remember whose photo I was taking!

It's pretty warm in August where we live, so the puppies discovered that taking a dip in the water dish was a great idea. Some dipped their head and ears....

And some, just climbed in for a nice, cool nap... that's Mason in the water dish.

After the dog run got converted - doors off hinges, x-pens to protect pups from electrical outlets, toys all washed, gates installed, and "hurry" areas filled with pine shavings... we moved the pups into their new quarters.

This probably looks like a much larger area then it really is but their area is now "L" shaped with half of the "L" inside and connected to the garage while the other half of the "L" is the outdoor portion of the dog run along side the garage. The outside section is on the north side of the garage and has a roof over it - so, not too much sun/heat. The indoor section has an air conditioner, just-in-case.

NEW toys to play with!

Outside, we have the ever-popular Clifford, the Big Red Dog stairs/slide/hiding place, a skateboard, some toys and a very big hurry spot.

I believe they sniffed every square inch of the place before they relaxed and took a nap.

Later on that evening, Hallie went out to check on her pups. She fed them, then played with them and their toys. I think the toys are the main attraction.

oh, these babies are soooo cute!

2008-08-10T13:20:00.001-07:00

The pups are now starting to play with "things" in addition to playing with each other. They got ahold of this towel and were biting and tugging on it.

Here's Morrison, sound asleep in the corner. Hardly seems comfortable

Mason fell asleep in the food dish while others were wrestling right next to him.

Martine met skippy up close. Skip has been following the progress of the pups from afar. This is the closest he's gotten to any of them up til today.

The pups starting getting food this week. Four weeks is the "magic" number, but we started a little early mixing goat's milk, water, and ground up puppy food - also known as weaning formula. I was a little concerned because Halor thought it was time that the pups nurse from her while she was standing and a couple of the pups weren't quite tall enough. We started with just supplementing two smaller pups, but they caught on and the others were quite interested - so now, they are all experts at lapping up gruel.

And now, introducing the "M" litter - born, July 11, 2008, and 4 weeks old:

Mason

Molly

Mallory

Mako

Morrison

Martine

Marilyn

Monroe

Moving Day!

2008-08-04T20:58:00.001-07:00

You can probably tell that the babies are getting pretty big. Usually, when they hit three weeks, we expand their living area from four feet by four feet to four by eight. Below, you can see their new and improved home that we put together while they slept happily in the bin.

A few of the pups have climbed across the 4 inch high wall - but once over there, they can't figure out how to get back. In a couple of days, they'll be going back and forth without a thought.

Here, some of the "M"s are playing and some are snoozing. The red square is a reuseable ice pack which they like to sleep on. In the far left corner is a frozen water bottle - another thing they enjoy. It's pretty hot outside and probably in about the mid to high seventies in the house but they still seem to get warm and enjoy these cool things.

Over the weekend, it was also moving day for the chickens. We now have an extremely DE-LUXE enclosure for the chickens and they are learning to sleep in their little hen house. Our friend Jose' built us this terrific chicken estate. We're now trying to figure out a catchy name for the entire abode.

From this distance, you can see the entire structure. It's about 10 feet by 15 feet and the girls seem really happy now that they are out of the dog run and out in the dirt. Now, we have to transform what was the "chicken run" back to it's original clean dog run status.

This video is for Hallie and all of the other great mothers out there...

Baby photos

2008-08-03T13:33:00.000-07:00

I could have taken this exact same photo about 30 times since Wednesday night when Izzy came home. She is fascinated by the babies and just stands in the nursery staring at them. She hasn't once tried to go through the door and Hallie has not corrected her but she is just plain amazed that there are babies in the house. I think Izzy had a terrific vacation with Kerry and Paul. I get the feeling she might have been the center of the universe for a few days and really liked it. I know she got to go swimming with her uncle/father/grandfather (Sequoia and Kittredge - fill in the names wherever you think they fit - it's a little confusing in this tight knit family.... )

This is our friend Dailyah and our littlest puppy Marilyn. Marilyn is half the size of her biggest brothers but still a pretty cute little pint-size Golden. Dailyah and I have been friends for a number of years and it was great that she was able to stop in to see the babies. Several years ago, we fostered prison sisters before they went off to jail (Geralee and Galaxy). Geralee is a hearing/facility dog in Santa Rosa and Galaxy is a hearing dog in Virginia. Dailyah graduated with her service dog, Kasten, at the first graduation I attended in November of 1999.

This is Monroe - the turquoise puppy and the lightest in color.

I guess this must be "Wrong-Way Charlie!"

Hallie is the most terrific Mom. If I've said this too many times - well, it's just because she is so good, it makes our job as breeder/caretaker so much easier. She is so patient and gentle with the babies that it amazes me all the time. Today, we had had "one of those mornings" when a couple of somebodies pooped and everybody somehow got involved in the mess. So, everybody got a little bath in the sink. After cleaning the pups and putting them in the stand-by bin, I replaced the fleece in the puppy pen. When I came back from the laundry room - there was Hal - laying in the puppy pen all by herself, as if to say, "OK, I'm ready - bring me my pups!" That's Marilyn again, snuggling with Mom.

This is the sort of thing that entertains me at this stage... the pups are done eating and some are playing, some are sleeping and Hallie just snoozes through it all. That's Martine climbing up Hallie. Mako is behind Hal asleep, and it looks like Molly has tackled somebody int he upper right hand corner.

It's quite a scene when Hallie first lays down - everybody just climbs in and starts fighting for a spot. She's trying to get them to nurse while she stands up but they aren't quite tall enough.

Ingrid sends photos from Florida

2008-08-03T12:53:00.001-07:00

Izzy's sister Ingrid sent us a letter this past week. She writes that she is doing well, has not gone into heat and is studying hard in school. She went to see a neighbor in the hospital and was a very good girl and her neighbor loved seeing her. Izzy was very happy to hear that she is not the only girl in the litter with the "Imelda Marcos' shoe fetish." Ingrid carries shoes two at a time up the stairs - Izzy still makes multiple trips - but she sure loves our shoes.

Ingrid sent her mom this beautiful smile!

Spoke too soon!

2008-07-31T12:04:00.000-07:00

I got another COOL thing from a puppy raiser of one of Halor's pups today:

DARA has been selected as a breeder! Congratulations to Tanya and Jason for raising such a star-ah!! I believe this semester's breeder selections will be presented at the November graduation ceremony! Yeah for Halor and Sequoia!!

Some fun and cool things

2008-07-31T10:26:00.001-07:00

In the last couple of days I've received a few really cool things from puppy raisers of Piniella and Halor's pups.

First, this photo:

On the right are Ashley and Astro (Baumann x Piniella). Astro was raised in Georgia by Monica and he graduated last year as a Facility Dog. Note the beautiful badge he wears on his chest - I believe he is a deputy for the Sheriff's office in a county in Washington. He and Ashley are expert child interviewers who work with traumatized children while they prepare to testify in court.

Monica is involved in the Georgia "Run for the Dogs" which is a CCI benefit. The web address is:

http://www.athensrunforthedogs.org/site/

Today, I received an email from Ingrid's (Sequoia x Halor) puppy raiser with this URL about an article in today's news. Halor was not all that fond of this idea...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25945650/

Hal thinks that once you wean the pups, you should be DONE - not dragged into nursing a bunch of giant kittens!

Ike's (Sequoia x Halor) puppy raiser sent me this fun video - which is pretty appropriate for Irish - and relates to my two sons who are boating safety instructors at a local lake:

and finally, Linda, Randy IV's puppy raiser (father of the "M" litter) sent me this link to YouTube. If I new where to get this guy, I'd see about hiring him!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4ql5QrHopA

The link might work by just clicking - but since it's so long, you might have to cut and paste.

ENJOY!!

The name game

2008-07-28T18:48:00.001-07:00

Here's an idea of the difference between the biggest pup (neon pink) and the littlest pup (light pink). He weighs over a pound more than her!

This is one sound asleep pup - Just about everybody's toes have turned all the way black. When the pups are born, their noses and toes are pink. The first to go black are the noses, then the toes slowly follow.

Today, everybody is up on their feet and beginning to see and hear. They respond to us when we walk up to the pen by beginning to look around, sniff, and get up and walk.

Sometimes, they are all spread out - at other times, they are a squirming pile of puppies.

Today, I got our new *tentative* puppy names. These can always change between now and distribution day:

Mason ~ Red male

Molly ~ Blue female (named for Pam K's Golden who recently passed away)

Mallory ~ Purple female

Mako ~ Neon Green male (like the shark - pronounced May-Koe)

Morrison ~ neon pink male, donated name and the only one we didn't submit

Martine ~ brown female named after Halor's mom, (B/C is friend Christine)

Marilyn ~ light pink female - for our mentor Pam's breeder, Marilyn, (mother of our first ADIT Fallon)

Monroe ~ turquoise male - I guess this one just goes with Marilyn!

2 week old activities

2008-07-26T16:24:00.001-07:00

WE'RE VERY HAPPY BABIES

WE HAVE OUR EYES OPEN!

BUT WE'RE NOT SURE WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT

WE'RE TRYING TO WALK!

BUT WE FALL OVER ALL OF THE TIME

WE'RE PLAYING WITH OUR

BROTHERS AND SISTERS!

WE'RE JUST BEGINNING TO NOTICE EACH OTHER

WE'RE VERY FAT AND

IT'S GETTING CROWDED!

THERE'S HARDLY ROOM FOR ALL OF US

Halor is doing great and we've been lucky to have no problems with any phase of the litter so far. We totally miss IZZY who is still having a great vacation with Kerry and Paul in Chico. Jon and I will be heading up to get her on Wednesday. It's been almost boring around here without her. The chickens had a great feast on meal worms today - wow, that was funny. One gal would get a worm and run with it while the others chased her to take it away. They were pretty thrilled. Skip and Rita came to visit Sable today, also. We had a great visit and I think everyone parted with the feelilng that Sable has adjusted well to retirement and it's OK for Skip to get a new partner.

Desi is desi-gnated....

2008-07-23T16:44:00.000-07:00

Halor and Sequoia's son Desi has been officially named a breeder for CCI!

Desi was the tenth puppy born to Halor and the third in the litter to Sequoia (remember - 7 of the pups belonged to Terry). Desi spent twoor three weeks with us prior to being offically started as a puppy in training by Georgia and Cody. At about 6 months, he moved to Idaho where Brenda became his puppy raiser. Congratulations to all - but especially to Desi who gets to have the fun sort of life all male puppies can only dream of!

Wow - they are growing fast!

2008-07-21T19:34:00.000-07:00

You may recall that we got six chicks around June 3rd or 4th.... at that time, they were probably about one or two days old. Now look at them - they are about a month and a half and really getting big (they have huge feet!). The chickens are living in the dog run right now - who would have thought. They love to "free range" on the epoxy floor in their temporary "hen house." They are trying out their wings and establishing the pecking order. We're having a good laugh watching them.

This is an Amrock (or American Plymouth Rock). We have two of these.

The one in the front is a Golden Laced Wyandotte (whatever that is!). They aren't as friendly as the Australorp and the Amrocks ~ a little skittish.

Of course, what you probably came to Halor's puppy blog to see, isn't chickens, right?

The M-babies are doing especially well. A couple of them are up over 3 lbs. Halor is an excellent mom. The puppies eyes and ears are still closed but they are lifting themselves up off the fleece and starting to wobble in the air.

They still sleep most of the time. We found out from a friend/puppy raiser that SWR will not be getting any of these pups but most likely, each of the other four regions will each get a male and a female. Someone in North Carolina already knows she is getting a female from this litter. Randy's PR and Ira's PR both know her and are looking forward to having an "M" in the Charlotte area!

These two are the huge puppies in the gang - but not by much! So far, it looks like the light pink puppy has the now famous "Halor ridge" down its nose. I haven't inspected closely enough to see if we have more ridges.

I can't tell for sure which puppy this is - but he/she is not panting (we keep them nice and cool) - he/she just happened to have his/her tongue out when I took the photos (laughing maybe?)

Here's our fabulous Mom with her brood. Halor is so attentive and calm, it's amazing to watch her. Nobody goes hungry or gets the slightest bit dirty in this crowd. That's not to say that she doesn't find some time to fit in a round or two of the acorn game - she still wants to play!

Izzy is still with fellow puppy raisers up in Chico and/or Tahoe on vacation. I've heard that she's behaving herself, but like Irish, I don't have any photos to prove it. I have heard that she is liking the water even more and getting some good swims in. I believe she'll be heading back home next week.

M litter photos

2008-07-15T04:58:00.000-07:00

One day old

2 days old with new collars! (Puppy Rorschach test)

3 days old - growing like weeds

but you probably can't tell too well from the photos. Eveyone is weighing in close to 20 oz or more (neon pink has overtaken neon green and is 26 oz).

Phew!

2008-07-14T21:32:00.001-07:00

Although I'm still frustrated, there is something extremely satisfying about going on the help center page and finding out that every other blogspot blogger is having the same photo upload problem as me! (it's not me, it's not me, hooray!!)

M litter news

2008-07-14T21:10:00.000-07:00

For some reason, the blogger software is not allowing me to upload any photos of the babies today. I'll give it until tomorrow and see if I can load them. In the mean time, we are all doing well - the puppies are gaining weight like crazy, Hallie is extremely bored and wants to play each time she goes outside, and Izzy went to Chico for a few days. I'll keep working on the photos.... this is very frustrating!

late breaking news!

2008-07-11T22:06:00.000-07:00

Announcing the marvelous, massive, monstrous M's

Beginning at 0635 this morning, July 11, 2008, Halor delivered her latest litter of eight gorgeous golden retreivers sired by Randy IV. We have four males and four females, weighing in between 13.5 ounces and 20.3 ounces. Six of these puppies arrived weighing over one pound ~ very big, very active, and very cute. Halor was done by 1257 so, considering the size of the babies, I'd say she did a great job. I'll try to post some better photos tomorrow!

Getting the Nursery Ready

2008-07-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

Over the past few days (it shouldn't take this long - but, man, is it hot here!), I've been getting the whelping/puppy stuff out of storage, cleaning it, and setting up our indoor puppy area. Oh, the outdoor puppy area is currently housing the six juvenile chickens - I'll have to take a picture of them - they're definitely at that "awkward" stage.

Our first 5 litters were born in the standard CCI plastic 6 foot whelping pool which worked great. Then, I invested in a deluxe whelping box, which is terrific for the mom and pups, but is a back-breaker during the whelping process due to it's 2 foot high sides (very long arms required!).

On a tip from another breeder/caretaker, I went shopping for a smaller version of the CCI pool and found the 4 foot model - which I have to say looked WAY too small at the store ~ but, for $8.44 I figured I'd bring it home.

After all the other stuff was arranged, I got the pool and started putting newspapers in it for the big event. Then, I thought I better try it on for size... looks like Hallie and a bunch of newborns will fit until we get them moved into the whelping box when we're all through!

I call this a mother and daughter reunion. Both are probably having flashbacks!

Several friends have heard me say that our cat, Skippy, really thinks he's a Golden Retriever. He runs with the big dogs and follows them everywhere. Now, it looks like Skippy thinks he's a pregnant Golden Retriever!

Good thing just about everyone got to try out the new baby whelping pool (although, I didn't see Piniella thinking about diving in)!

While I'm blogging...

2008-07-06T20:25:00.000-07:00

Izzy and Sable are playing at my feet - very quietly and nicely - and oh so cute!

X-Ray results are in!

2008-07-06T20:13:00.001-07:00

Well, if this isn't the saddest thing you've ever seen - sleek, svelte, long, lanky, Hallie is stretched out like a balloon that's going to explode.... We've had the x-ray, she weighed in (88.5 lbs with one week to go), she got her beautiful golden locks cut, the nursery is set up, Eileen's on her way... let's see - what else is there to do? Oh, let everyone know that it looks like eight for sure, and possibly nine ("niner" for all of us aviation types). We're ready - just hoping she holds off til Wednesday (her due date) to get started. Oh, and while we're hoping - we're hoping for a smooth whelp, during daylight hours, and lots of healthy puppies with a good litter letter.

Weekend fun

2008-07-06T19:55:00.000-07:00

If you've ever been around Halor - you already know that she loves to play ball, or frisbee, the acorn game, or agility - maybe, she just likes to play. With about 4 days to go til her due date - she hasn't let up for a minute. We have to control her play time since she just won't stop ~ even to get a drink. You can't tell from the photo - but this was really a lot more like "bobbing for balls" than a reststop.

Here's huge Hallie doing the weave poles - now this was a sight that I wish I had on video.

Izzy was having some fun, as well. This is Izzy looking pretty...

Here's Izzy looking a little more ragged...

We set up all of the agility toys in the back yard and everyone enjoyed the tunnel - back and forth, sometimes head-on - but they worked it out. Here are Piniella (in the tunnel), Sable, Hallie, and Izzy - a tunnel parade.

Our friend Tracey came up for the weekend - our intent was to "do nothing." We did a pretty good job of that - but we did spend a fair amount of time watching the dogs doing things. From left - Piniella, Sable, Hallie, and Izzy (oh, and Tracey standing).

Friday night after class

2008-06-29T21:50:00.001-07:00

So, what do Breeder/Caretakers do in their spare time, you might wonder?? Well, they go visit other Breeder/Caretakers litters just to remind themselves how cute those little devils are ~ especially when they are at someone else's house. Although you can't tell from the photos, there are ten of these darling babies - in all shades of gold.

These babies are members of the "C" litter, born to Rowina and Alijah. I think Alijah is a Kittredge pup so that makes these pups somehow related... Hal is a Kittredge pup, but I'm too lazy to figure out how, tho!

Rowina's puppy raiser from North Carolina and Randy's breeder/caretaker from the Santa Rosa area were both in town to visit the litter so Rachel and Holt brought them to puppy class and then took me to their house to see the babies.

This was a great visit and the pups are about 3 weeks old - very cute and getting very busy! Izzy had to stay in the car, so she has no clue what's coming our way.

This next week, we'll go for x-rays to get an idea of how many pups to expect.

Guess Who??

2008-06-26T20:36:00.000-07:00

While we Californians were reveling in our great weather with beautiful sunny blue skies a few months (probably even a few days) ago, Debbie and Ike were snowed in and freezing. Now, we can't see across the street due to the soot and ash particles in the air and Ike is posing with beautiful flowers in puppy raiser Lois's garden. Summer has finally happened in Minnesota! The family resemblance is amazing ~ a lot of Irish, Izzy, and Ira in that beautiful face.

Thanks, Debbie, for sending an update!

Santa Cruz, California

2008-06-21T16:11:00.000-07:00

Our son, Chris, went off to UCSC as a freshman this year and has pointed out that we never visited him once. He's right - but then, it's not like we didn't see him here at home. I tried to be there his last week of school to help him move home, but my schedule just didn't permit it. Now, we did get there the week after he moved back home - he doesn't quite think that counts.

My parents advised me that they were going to have their house in Santa Cruz thoroughly cleaned (including carpets) before a vacation renter moved in July 1. What better time than to take our FOUR dogs to the beach? Dennis loaded up the girls in one car and I met him down there after a half day of work.

The beach near the house is perfect for dogs - water on one side - cliffs on all three other sides except for one outlet to the street. There is a great expanse of sand between the road and the water, so it's particularly safe. Dogs are required to be on leash when the beach is open - but we have always bent those rules just a tad by heading for the sand either very early or close to sunset - so far so good. These photos were taken at about 6:15 - 6:45 am this past week.

This was Izzy's first trip to the beach since she had to miss the Coronado trip. In order, we have Izzy, Sable, Piniella, and Halor. We don't know how many times Sable has been to the beach, so we were prepared with the extend-0-leash, just in case. Obviously, she didn't need it - she loved the beach, sand, water, and chasing the other girls.

Izzy, Piniella, Halor, and Sable...

Clockwise from Izzy - Sable, Piniella (hidden), and Halor. This might have been Hal's last real romp for a while - she's really looking HUGE!!

There's Sable on the right - definitely at home in the surf.

This gal does pretty well for 12 1/2 years old.

I will tell you that walking four dogs on "hurry" breaks is a bit challenging. We managed OK, but it was pretty challenging. Otherwise - four dogs seems about like having three. Sable seems to have brought with her some finely tuned skills that the other three were lacking. This morning, I'm sure she taught her team how to open the dog food bin and help themselves to breakfast, before breakfast... last week, it was a 10 lb bag of low residue puppy food that got devoured. BTW, when it's consumed in one day ~ there's no "low residue" about it.

The gang has grown....

2008-06-13T19:43:00.000-07:00

Introducing SABLE II

Sable has moved in with us this week after retiring from a very long and dedicated career as a CCI Service dog for our friend Skip. Sable is a female LGX who normally looks just like a Golden Retriever, but she is sporting her "summer-do" right now, so only her ears and tail reflect her Golden attributes. Sable turned 12 1/2 on June 7 so she clearly deserved to retire. For those of you who are interested, Sable's parents are Twister and Ulrica, making her 3/4 Golden, 1/4 Lab, I think.

Sable has fit right in with the gang ~ and it's probably a good thing we have a gang, because Sable is pretty hard of hearing. She keeps track of where I am and where we're going by following the others. This is Sable with Halor.

It appears that Sable is having a good time with the gang - she is often exhibiting spontaneous friskiness, followed by some more careful and slower steps. I don't thing she's lived with stairs (makes sense since Skip uses a wheelchair full time) so she forgets that she's 12 1/2 and tries to go flying up and down the steps. This is Sable with Izzy and Hal.

For those of you familiar with Izzy's beautiful singing voice (hardly!), you'll be interested to know that Sable performs just as beautifully - with a bone in her mouth they can do quite a nice duet. Here are all four - Piniella (8yrs), Sable, Izzy (8 months) and Halor (almost 4).

And as if these four plus 2 1/2 cats isn't enough ~

I got chicks and a hen house for Mothers' Day. The babies are now a week old and still living in a box in the bathroom...

We have two black Austrolorps, two American Plymouth Rocks, and two Golden (of course) laced Wyandottes (all girls). They are growing like weeds and getting pretty fast on their feet!

Washington DC

2008-06-13T19:25:00.000-07:00

So, I left the wild and fun dog oriented weekend in San Diego and flew to Washington DC for a conference on Unmanned Aerial Systems - which are remote controlled aircraft ranging from hand-held surveillance units to Globalhawks, single engine jets that have the wingspan of a B737. The military, the FAA, and the civilians are trying to figure out how these aircraft can fit into the National Airspace System along with all of the "manned aircraft." It turned out to be not as boring as I expected.

In order to have some fun on the trip, Rick, Ardy, and I decided to try a City Segway Tour on Wednesday evening after dinner at Old Ebbets Grill. First they wrapped us in saran wrap since the weathermen were forecasting severe thunderstorms during that time, then we learned to ride/drive our Segways. I was a little shaky at first, but after a few laps around the alley, I got the hang of it and our group was ready to hit the road (or sidewalk, really).

We toured around the mall area, hitting the high points ~ the Washington Monument, the White House, the Capital, and all of the museums and federal buildings in between.

For most of the three hour tour, the weather was pretty good - it rained off and on, but our saran wrap ponchos were keeping us pretty dry. We saw some spectacular lightening - up close, and heard some roaring thunder - up close, but most of the time it was just rain...

until, we got to the Capital. It was getting a bit dark, but the Capital policeman came out and warned us that we might want to take cover, since he had heard that penny size hail was coming our way.

We segged around until we found this overhang;

where Ardy checked the Doppler weather map on her Blackberry. She determined that it appeared the storm had passed our position and we hopped back on our Segways and headed back to the shop. I bought a clean, dry t-shirt so that I wouldn't win the wet t-shirt contest on the Metro on the way back to our hotel in Arlington. I HIGHLY recommend the Segway experience..... too fun!

sixth in a series ~ Typical Backyard BBQ?

2008-06-09T19:34:00.000-07:00

Piniella and great granddaughter, Izzy - it looks like Piniella is whispering in Izzy's ear that it's OK to go swimming in the pool.

Fred is the nicest guy in the world - he cleaned the pool just so 16 dogs could go swimming in it...

Piniella figured out how to get the ball without jumping inoff the side of the pool. She patiently waited as the ball slowly floated towards her and then she demonstrated how flexible she is...

Hallie looks smart enough to stay out this scrum of activity. In that mess are Dory, Naya, Izzy, Calendar, and Prairie.

Izzy's brother Irish has not decided that it's OK to go swimming in the big pool. Fred gave him a very slow and easy swimming lesson but he was happiest clinging tightly to Fred above the water line.

Most of the pups were "on the run" up and down the hillside and around and around the pool. This is Hennessy in action.

Baby Adriana had one quick swimming lesson and then sacked out for the entire affair. Adree is the Flynn's new baby - a total bundle of enerty. I believe she is Shasta and Paolo's daughter - clearly not related to the rest of the pack at the party.

Dory likes to stand watch from the bench on the far side of the pool. She is always perched over there ~ taking in all of the action.

The bigger dogs are checking out the puppies going full force on the far side of the pool... I believe those pups on the run are Amaya (Chandra x Kittredge, making her Piniella's granddaughter), Irish, and Bill.

Izzy staked out this little spot in the sun with a little shade from a palm tree. She retreated to this spot often to ensure she could hold onto the tennis ball. I think Hal is thinking about taking the ball away from her daughter.

When Piniella had her first litter, we met Paula and Christine - seen here with Kathy. Paula, Paul, and Christine raised Kismet (shown below), while we raised Kiltie, Sandy raised Kittredge, Pat raised Keeler, Eileen raised Kirin, and the first of our "family reunions" was born. Paula, Christine and Paul hosted the very first reunion in their home in Newport Beach. Judy and Pat came out from Boston for our first event with them. We had a fabulous time and have been great friends ever since! Pat and Judy were unable to attend and were sorely missed!!

Kismet escaped a career with CCI by having some grass allergies.

This was another terrific BBQ with, of course, more dogs than people. We were especially well fed by Fred and Lynn and we got to meet even more dog loving CCI friends.

News Flash (we interrupt this series)

2008-06-07T21:20:00.000-07:00

To announce that Halor's pregnancy has been confirmed. Dennis took her to our vet for her ultrasound and puppies were indeed seen in-utero - sorry, no scanned ultrasound photo to provide for your viewing pleasure. Hal's due date is July 9. She is indeed showing some signs of pregnancy - bigger nipples and eating quite a bit slower - much to Piniella's chagrin, she'd like to help out with Hal's meals, but we closely supervise mealtime!

technical difficulties

2008-06-07T21:00:00.000-07:00

You'll see in the next entry that I've had some technical difficulties with the location of the type. I can't figure out how to change it without deleting everything and redoing it, so sorry, you'll have to read the entries letter by letter... I'm blaming it on Skippy.

fifth in a series ~ Coronado dog beach

2008-06-07T19:52:00.001-07:00

Well, this photo pretty much sums up Hallie and Prairie's weekend.... Wherever Hallie went, Prairie was about two feet intrail. It was very easy to keep track of Prairie!

These five retreivers had a fabulous morning at the beach. Note Prairie's location in relation to Hallie.... Izzy stayed home because of her feet. I'm sure she'll get another chance at a fenced beach sometime soon.

Naya certainly looks like her mother's daughter in this photo - there's a ball lover's streak in all of them!

Looks like the old girl's still got it... Piniella had a terrific time chasing the ball - luckily there were lots of them so she didn't have to compete with Naya and Hallie.

Looks like the old girl's still got it (oh, sorry Eileen, I couldn't resist!). Seriously, notice how Hallie has one ball in her mouth and is waiting to chase another... and notice Prairie's position in relation to Hallie's.

I love the look of total concentration on Hal's face. And, not much can be said about Prairie - except that his concentration is complete - but not on the ball...

It's tempting to just stare at the fun loving retrievers in this photo - but look in the background at the two wet-suited people, a surfboard and a Golden... check out the perfect "point" on Prairie... he's got his target in sight!

We watched this Golden get a couple of great rides. At the end, he/she just turns around backwards and steps off. Quite a trick!

Besides watching our dogs have a great time - this beach was fabulous for dog-watching....

~a swimming bulldog?

Frolicking Great Danes?

my absolute favorite photo of the day...

~ very high hopes!

a bigger, fatter, water-avoiding (intact) bulldog...

I think this gal knows where the treats are...

It doesn't seem like you usually see Dobies in the surf...

A much more typical site at the beach. This pup was flying to catch his frisbee, but I wasn't able to snap a good photo of that...

fourth in a series ~ Oceanside for Graduation

2008-06-07T15:27:00.001-07:00

The original plan was to go to San Diego for a group reunion and see Doreen matriculate into CCI's advanced training. The plan got slightly thwarted when Doreen was released early for medical reasons. Of course, we still made the best of it - and luckily, we got to reunite with some other friends along the way. Above and below, Halor is posing with her son, Davis, from her first litter (dad is Terrell). Davis is an extremely handsome guy and his puppy raisers raved about him. We wish him luck in Advanced Training!

After meeting up with Davis and his puppy raisers, we reunited with Irish, Izzy's brother from Halor's second litter with Sequoia. Izzy is on the left, Irish is on the right.

Irish was so happy to see him Mom, he gave her a little kiss...

After graduation, just about all of the dogs had a roll on the grass in the sunshine (not pictured - since, afterall, we were at CCi graduation, behaving ourselves. We decided to line them up again - just for the fun of it... Below are: Hennessy, Halor, Izzy, Piniella, and Prairie (note how in most photos, Halor and the loving young man are separated by one or two dogs...)

I think we pushed our luck when we decided to line six of them up for a shot ~ Hennessy decided to leave when Calendar joined us.

Graduation was terrific, as usual. We enjoyed the graduation of nine teams and we reunited with friends Jamie and Nancy from the Gold Rush Champions group in the NWR. Post graduation, we had a late lunch and went shopping - another perfect day!

third in a series ~ meanwhile, back at the house

2008-06-07T15:04:00.000-07:00

Talk about gracious hosts..... Lynn and Fred are terrific. They opened up their home to Kathy, Eileen, Paula, and me - along with our gang of pups.... This is a typical scene from the living room ~ in this case, we were getting ready to go to Oceanside for graduation on Saturday.

Well, you get the idea...

Bad idea to add a ball to the mix.... we tried to hide all balls from Halor and Izzy and all stuffed, fluffy toys from Piniella and Hennessy. Naya and Dory couldn't figure out where all of their toys went. But along with the total chaos, came small really nice moments of peace....

Eileen and Naya

Paula and Hennessy

Hennessy and Izzy

second in a series ~ Sea World

2008-06-07T14:47:00.001-07:00

I'm always behind the camera (except at NWR turn-in day when I'm the one positioning dogs...) when we are on trips - because I take way too many photos. I'm definitely entertained by us CCI puppy raisers and our efforts to get our pups positioned "just so" for a photo op. In this photo - Paula and Kathy are doing the work while the rest of us watch and laugh. Izzy and Dory got the easy spots and are just along for the ride.

OK, so Paula has left the scene and Hennessy is going after her... Note how good Prairie is at doing the perfect "UP" behind the dog bowl.... or, is that Kathy propping him up??

Finished product.... but the gang is looking the wrong direction - probably at Kathy who just ran out of the photo trying to make sure Prairie stays in position long enough... Pups are Prairie at the top and clockwise from him ~ Dory, Izzy, Calendar, and Hennessy.

first in a series.... Sea World

2008-06-07T14:22:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday, Kathy and I left Cameron Park for San Diego. Accompanying us were Prairie, Piniella, Halor, and Izzy - all in a rented mini-van. Along the way, we picked up Eileen in Garden Grove. The trip was made just slightly more difficult by the "Summer of 42" atmosphere created by Prairie's 11 month old hormones and Hallie's recent trip to the kennel for a love match. We arrived safely at Lynn's house and were reunited with Naya and Dory. Naya is Piniella's daughter and Dory is Hallie's. On Friday, we packed up the legal dogs and headed for Sea World. In this photo, Izzy is modeling her very pretty and fancy shoes - which she got to wear due to some pad blisters incurred on a hike earlier in the week with Aria and Natoma.

Our gang included Janice and Paula, their pups in training, Calendar and Hennessy, and Eileen's borrowed pup. This photo was taken at the Sea Lion and Otter show.

Hennessy and Izzy got up close and personal with a burro, who was happy to come from across his enclosure to meet up with the kids...

This is Izzy's first exposure to a horse.... of course, it had to be the biggest possible horse - one of the famous Budweiser Clydesdales (so big, I couldn't fit much of him in the photo!).

The Pet's Rule performance might be the best animal show I've ever seen. The trainers have done an incredible job with the dogs, cats, pigs, and ducks - truly amazing to watch. After the show, the gang lined up for this photo. Sea World has a lot of great photo opportunities and these were the first of many photos we tried to take of the pups lined up. Needless to say, someone is missing ~ but we got used to that and made the best of it. We couldn't seem to get them all looking the same direction, either.

Here is our tired bunch after a full day at Sea World. Izzy did a double-take when she saw the big polar bear, but she recovered quickly. As you can see, Hennessy couldn't stay awake for the photo at this point. Hennessy and Izzy were born the same day - October 25, 2007. Hennessy's mom is Auburn, daughter of our Piniella. Just to make sure you can connect the dots... Eileen raised Piniella, Piniella is our first breeder, Eileen, Paula, and I raised pups from Piniella's first litter. Piniella's third litter was with Gibson (aka Sonny), Kathy's breeder, who recently died - but Kathy, Lynn, Eileen, and I raised pups from that litter... since then, Lynn has raised a pup from Piniella's 5th litter (Elsey) and a pup from Halor's first litter (Doreen). It's not just the dogs that are related...

So, why'd we go to Dixon?

2008-05-25T17:02:00.001-07:00

Fallon was our first puppy-in-training. She is a hearing dog in Eureka, CA and a real treasure. She was so fun to train and a great pup to have for our very first CCI dog. Fallon will be nine in August. Her parents are Marilyn (deceased) and DeParis, a graduate dog in the Northeast Region (she's 7/8 Golden). Fallon's partner, Barb, commissioned a painting of Fallon. The painter, Paula, didn't really think her first painting was as good as it should be, so she painted another and gave both to Barb. Barb wanted us to have the first painting, so today, I met Paula in Dixon where she was running her Jack Russell, Romeo, in the agility trials. What a wonderful gift from Barb and Dan!

Agility Anyone?

2008-05-25T16:42:00.001-07:00

Today, Izzy and I went to Dixon, California (that's another story) to some agility trials. It was a pretty big affair with at least three rings going concurrently. I'm not very up on agility, but we sure enjoyed watching. Izzy was very intrigued by the vast array of dogs - big dogs, little dogs, noisy dogs and VERY noisy dogs.

This dog was fun to watch and there was one of those corded dogs named "Harry." I thought that was a very appropriate name. The Bearded Collie seemed to tell off his handler every time he made a wrong turn. Very funny!

I really enjoyed watching the Border Collies because they really seem to get the biggest thrill out of SPEED. Total speed demons!

When I saw Helen last week at CCI, she reminded me that I had purchased some agility things and I was forced to admit that I hadn't taken them out of the box. Today, I was motivated to come home and put these three things together. Halor was thrilled, Izzy was curious, and Piniella was border-line interested. The princess, Miss P, walked through the tire and over the jump ~ just because I asked her to.

Hallie really gets it!

Hal usually misses a pole or two - so we'll have to work on it until she gets too big to weave...

Dixon ~ Been There, Done That

2008-05-22T16:05:00.000-07:00

Dixon (Terry x Halor - sole fluffy cross of the litter) entered Advanced Training in the North Central Region in February at a bit of an early age due to his puppy raisers' upcoming baby. As it turned out, Dawson (wow, another "D" baby!) was born 5 weeks early, so I think Cari and her husband really appreciated the extra time. Of course, Dixon liked it better on the farm so he thwarted the plan and found a way to get home in time for Dawson's arrival - smart boy! Wouldn't you prefer the farm to the kennel in Ohio?? I think he looks a lot like his mother...

Now, he just dreams of those fun times wearing his gentle leader and CCI cape.

Working Hard (or, hardly working)

2008-05-22T16:01:00.001-07:00

Izzy probably has the best job in the world.... Snoozin' away (tho' she appears to be keeping one eye on me), flat on her back, surrounded by great toys. What a life!

About Doreen (aka Dory)

2008-05-21T15:41:00.001-07:00

This is Doreen (aka Dory, daughter of Halor and Terry). Dory has decided to not matriculate into CCI's Advanced Training next weekend and instead has taken the "early out" program due to her extreme allergy to bee stings. Dory has been raised by and now lives with Lynn and Fred who are 3 time puppy raisers of "Daniel Dogs." They have raised several other successful pups but I tend to concentrate on the ones I really know. We had planned to travel to San Diego (and Oceanside) to see Dory matriculate, but since she is not, we are still planning to travel to San Diego to attend graduation - but we'll make it a fun-filled and exciting dog extravaganza. I'm pretty sure we'll be meeting up with famous blogger "Irish" too! Dory has been working very hard for the San Diego Police Department and the DA's office helping children who are victims or involved in heinous crimes. In this photo, Dory is in the children's waiting room at the courthouse. Lynn reports that she does her best work here.

Dory has become quite the model - as you can see, opting in at any opportunity to pose in a beautiful setting. Lynn reports that this was another of the freak snowstorms in the mountains about 30 minutes from her house (which is just east of San Diego).

Pictured here, are Naya (rhymes with Hey-a) and Dory in the snow. Naya is Natoma's sister from Piniella's third litter by Gibson. Naya was released for a congenital kidney condition but is doing beautifully in Lynn and Fred's care. Lynn and Fred also raised Elsey from Piniella's fifth litter by Terry - Elsey is a service dog in San Diego.

After her medical release, Dory plans to keep working for the police department and the DA's office. I believe she has become such an important part of the children's program that they don't want her to stay home from work. No early retirement for her! Rumor has it that she enjoys swimming, travel, and long walks on the beach in her spare time.

More from NWR May Graduation

2008-05-21T06:30:00.001-07:00

On the Saturday morning of graduation/matriculation, I assist the photographer with taking the matriculating puppies' and their puppy raisers' photos. The photographer is terrific ~ very patient and good at what he does. My job is to position the dogs while he directs the people and takes the shots. While Ed and I were getting the official litter shot of the "D" pups - Dara's puppy raisers took this photo. Left to right are: Desi, Dara, Diora, and Durham.

Here is a family shot of the "D" litter with mom Halor and one of their two dads, Sequoia. Desi must have tired of the photo shoot since it looks like he was about to depart the photo! Left to right are: Halor, Desi, Dara, Diora, Durham, and Sequoia. The pups did pretty well, really - they aren't used to posing in group form - side by side, intact boys and girls next to intact boys and girls!

Dara's puppy raisers, Jason and Tanya, kindly sent these shots - this one is of Dara, Sequoia, and Durham. Dara, Durham, and Desi are Izzy's brothers and sister. In a totally unfortunate turn of events, Desi's puppy raiser was unable to attend graduation due to an injury. We sprung him from the kennel for official photos but didn't have much of a chance to visit with him.