August 3 Pupdate

I have an empty nest ;-( The last puppy left here Sunday and flew to her new home in Los Angeles, CA yesterday. Cary (now Ethan) left on Saturday and is in the Columbus, OH area. I miss them all very much and have gone through almost the whole box of fudgesicles.
I’ve been cleaning up their stuff and took down the ex pen inside and the ‘security’ fencing outside but that’s not nearly as much fun as setting things up for the puppies. I don’t have it all done yet either as I’ve had to spend some time moping.

Bagby (fka Royal) is doing well in his new home and his mom commented on what a little gentleman he is. That’s a nice tribute to his sire as he was often referred to as a gentleman. He’s swimming, playing and training and loving with his new family. He starts some official training soon. In the meantime, he’s meeting other dogs and people and being ‘home schooled.’ He seems to be a hit with his new family and fitting in with the extended family dogs and is helping out by gathering up things they ‘lost’ (including the terrier’s collar) and putting them under the shrubbery for safekeeping.

Pink (no new name yet) flew home to LA yesterday and did very well with that. She is learning to fit in as a California girl. She is quite the hit with her new family – especially the boys who didn’t know they were getting a dog until they arrived to pick her up and I asked if they were here to meet their new puppy. He apparently had a stunned expression on his face but was quite happy to meet her. He’s already talking about them needing another one later to keep her company. It is SO far away from us but it’s only a couple of hours from my sister’s new home. I guess that’s all the more reason to schedule a visit (especially since my sister has found the dog friendly beach near her house.)

Carrera (fka Purple brownie) is living large in VA with her new family and older ‘brother’ Salazar. I think she is making him a better dog and is by all accounts adorable. Her mom keeps us updated on Facebook and via email and is supposed to come for a water practice weekend soon as well as bring her to the water trial in PA. I look forward to seeing her again (and again and again.) That little girl is a spitfire and very pretty. Maybe she’ll end up doing conformation as well… She's supposed to be her daddy's girl but I think she regard them as 'her people.' Shades of her mother all over again.

Ethan (fka Cary Blue and Baby Blue) is adjusting to his new life and playing with his new PWD sister in OH. Apparently, she is thrilled that they finally have a dog that will play with her. The older dogs have explained the house rules and for now, he is complying. He’s supposed to get to meet the horse soon and I will be waiting to hear how that goes. I am trying to talk his new mom into bringing the PWDs to our water practice in the Columbus area this weekend so I can visit with him.

MiraBella (fka the green brownie) is in and out with Indy’s (Dog) Cindi so I don’t have to miss her as much. I am trying really hard not to love on her too much while she bonds with her new family but it’s very hard. She is so cute when she comes back and just fits right in. She has a lot of her mother, Jill, in her which means she also reminds us of SammieDoodlebug. She can swing her whole butt when she sashays around in greeting. She also made her first kill this morning – a baby bird. Apparently, she’s the only one in the group that doesn’t have a good leave it yet and when everybody else stopped for the little one learning to fly; she pounced on it and got it. Debbie (our friend with border collies who is doing MiraBella’s daycare) had to pry the dead little bird out of her happy PWD jaws. She’s doing well with sit, down, spins, barking on command, and touching a target. She’s may be developing a BC stare as well ;-)

And finally Rowdy (fka Limey) is making himself at home in Cincinnati. He’s started puppy classes this week but was already doing well with sit and down without a hand signal or lure and housetraining. And like the other puppies, he is retrieving. His mom is working on his release at the end of the delivery to hand. He was still a handsome puppy when he was here a couple of weeks ago for grooming and swimming and I’ll get to see a lot more of him when his family goes on a pre-scheduled vacation and he stays here. I’m very much looking forward to that.

Jack is supposed to get to start easing back into activity Thursday and he is looking forward to that. Jill and SammieDoodlebug got pretty big haircuts but are still in versions of the lion trim. As a matter of fact, all of the puppies are still in lions, at least for now ;-) SammieDoodlebug is starting to get more water practice and Jill is considering whether she might not like to become a real water dog as well. We’ll still love her whatever she decides. We need to ramp up the hunt for the best baby Daddy for Doodlebug puppies now. If only they didn’t leave, I’d really enjoy breeding.

Guess I’ll go do last call and nighty, nighty, nighty with the big dogs.