1st Birthday 2011 Litter

                             
                                                                           

                                                                              Ava
                    
                               Many thanks to families for sharing birthday photos and thoughts!

                    Ava loves to take rides in the car, watch sports and “Dancing with the Stars” on TV and she thoroughly enjoys making up games to play. She has an amazing ability to come up with games and then teach me how to play along. There is the “roll the ball under the couch and down the hall as fast as you can so I can go tackle it” game and the “chase me upstairs and let’s bounce the exercise ball back and forth and off the walls” game – she seemed quite proud that I was so easy to train. She enjoys meeting new people and making new (canine) friends. She goes to work with me some days and bounds right up the stairs to check in with employees and patients alike as though she is the boss of the office. She seems most happy though when she sees members of her own pack. She greets us every time with a toy in her mouth and then a chorus of whimpers and growls. At night she prefers to sleep under my bed but in the mornings she jumps up in bed next to me and cuddles close – these quiet moments are my favorite. She is a wonderful girl and I am very blessed to have her in my life. Send my happy birthday wishes along to the other puppy families.

 

Happy Birthday!

     Happy 6th Birthday to Ophelia,  Isaac, Dakota, Zorba,      

                   Tess, Finnegan, Heidi, and Cooper!

                                                      Ireigold World's A Stage - Isaac

The Perfect Pet

         Isaac is the perfect pet!!!  He LOVES his family soooooo much and it’s clear that his only goal in life is to be with and please us. He has no other agenda.  Isaac loves his people and wants them to feel like they’re the best, and that makes him the best!!! He loves to sleep in bed with us. . mostly alongside dad, Dan or sister, Meri.  He loves to eat with us. . .he lies under the table, keeping everyone’s feet cozy warm and is always on patrol for a small tidbit that may hit the floor.  He loves to watch TV. . .  sports, news, Disney teeny bopper shows, the TODAY show, he loves them all!!  He loves riding in the car. . .it doesn’t matter where he’s going as long as he gets to go!!! He loves playing outdoors with the kids of his family. . .he’s always up for playing with a ball or frisbee, on the playground set, sledding, ski jouring or swimming in the pond or, playing inside. . . he LOVES playing with stuffed animals. He loves to carry stuffed animals everywhere, two, three, four, he can always fit another in his mouth.  Which brings up the point that Isaac also loves to be helpful. . . constantly cleaning up around house.  He’s a very good housekeeper as he vacuums crumbs continuously and is constantly picking up discarded shoes, socks, underwear and toys.

         Isaac loves other animals, too, and is such a nice citizen as he interacts with ALL the creatures great and small within the community we call our farm. The kittens in the barn love him without question and rub their little bodies against “Uncle Ikey Poo” as he lies down and makes himself comfortable in the aisle as someone is feeding or brushing a horse. Now this is in contrast to our Aussie, Sweep, who is Isaac’s BEST friend and farm dog partner, who the kittens are forced to keep a wary eye on as she may choose to chase them at any minute forcing them to literally run for their lives. Isaac is always up for a game with Sweep and the best is when she chases him around the yard, pretending he is a white tailed deer, grabbing his collar and taking him down(he dramatically flops).  The game ends as he permanently flops down pretending to be dead as she tugs him by his invisible collar(we’ve gone through 3) like a carcass across the lawn.  He always has a BIG smile on his face when they play this game.  Finally, the chicks in the downstairs bathtub even love Isaac.  Since we brought them in the house at 3 days old, he has taken to parking himself outside the bathroom door and when he come into the bathroom, they stretch their necks over the edge and when they see him greet him with enthusiastic peeps calling up to him because instinctively they know that he would NEVER hurt them in a million years.

Isaac is the perfect pet. . .a golden boy.

Heidi &  Finn, Ophelia, Tess, Skidder( from a later litter) & Zorba