Happy Birthday to Jane and Johnny!

Eight years old today! Jane is dam to Winston, Clyde, See See and 20 others from three litters who are in loving homes. I am grateful to her for giving me such wonderful puppies and being a great mom. Johnny is my protector and most loyal dog. He alerts me to everything I need to know.

Jane on her eighth birthday
Johnny on his eighth birthday
Birthday presents!
Not all dogs can chew on bones together! Jane and Johnny have always gotten along well.

I get these bones at Tractor Supply. I always watch them when they first get the bones. They chew off pieces of the end, which I have to pick up and throw away. Also, I don’t let them chew indefinitely, because they end up swallowing too much of the gristle, and then they don’t want to eat dinner. (By the way, the bones are greasy, so give them to them on a floor you can wipe off or outside.)

I can’t believe Johnny and Jane are eight years old. It seems like just yesterday that they were born. On 10/30/2013 Nellie had a litter of 10. Sadie is the only one who has passed away. She had a rare form of skin cancer. Katherine and Harriet live together in Arkansas, Blanche and Rembrandt live in WV, Margaret and Ginny live in Ohio, and Alice is in Arizona. If you are wondering about the old-timey names, they are named after my dad (John), his brother, and their eight girl cousins who lived down the road, who were like sisters. Some of their owners changed their names, but the names i give my puppies all have some kind of meaning to me, and thats who they are in my heart.

My sister came to visit!

My sister, Laura, came all the way from Portland, Oregon to visit me. She has a cute little dog named Trixie who gets her picture taken A LOT!

This is Trixie in Oregon. She didn’t make the trip.

Trixie

During Laura’s visit, we went to the VMFA, the Richmond Zoo, and today we went with the dogs to James River Beach and then the Ferry. Laura took the pics of me with the puppies. Thank you Laura!

You can’t take dogs to the zoo, which is good I guess.
The puppies were a little nervous to go in the water at the James. They needed some coaxing.
They settled down and seemed to like it because the water was nice and cool. it was about 80 degrees in Jamestown today.
The puppies did great on the ferry.
This nice lady petted them.
They let their two kids pet them too, which is great socialization for the puppies.
Back at home on the pink chaise lounge, the puppies showed Laura how much they loved her.
Of course, Winston supervised.
Laura took this one of me with Clyde.
I tried to talk them into posing just right.
Laura finally caught us all in just the right pose.

I will miss her as we all get back to our routines.

Chillin’ inside on a rainy day

Well, make that a rainy week. Rain, mud, not pretty. I use a lot of towels! The dogs get a little restless, but I caught them relaxing.

See See and Clyde with full tummies
That’s Jane behind Johnny with Nellie, their mom, in front
I had to start feeding Winston in the crate. He was getting fat eating with the puppies.
Johnny is gibing Jane a kiss

Dressy, aka Greta

I just heard from Dressy’s new owners, who named her Greta. Sandy and Bob take great care of her, and she seems very happy, as evidenced by these great pics. They will be taking her to puppy classes soon, and she already knows basic commands. She is a natural retriever, and also likes to play catch. She likes to look out the window and loves their son as seen in these pics. And her ears are perfect! She has beautiful pigmentation and great bone, especially for a female. Great expression.

Happy Birthday Peggy!

I just found out today is Connie’s mom’s birthday too! Peggy has been a great puppy owner, asking lots of good questions and dealing with some really stubborn ears! Here are some pics of Peggy with Connie and family. Happy birthday to you too!

All of Peggy’s hard work with Connie’s ears really paid off! This is Connie today, at 7 months.