A Little Change of Pace

With the holiday week, the office is quieter than usual and there are a few less people lurking the halls.  With that in mind and a shorter couple of work days for me, I decided to take Jag to the office today.  He was quiet as a church mouse and no one even knew he was even there unless I pointed him out.  He stayed very quiet in a crate under my desk and was the perfect puppy.


After we left the office, we headed over to PetSmart for some puppy socializing (always a good thing, and it's been awhile since they've been out and about) and new collars for the boys.  It looks like "Kong" has out a nice new line of soft collars; however, this trip, I decided I better hit up the clearance rack instead.  Each boy got a new collar and we found a new toy too.  Apparently the timing was good as Finn's collar broke shortly after I got home today!

The Pack on Christmas Eve

Grand-Dam Kallie (our lone yellow...who now wears a black collar to fit in a little better), Jag,  Zoe, and Finn

'

Merry Christmas Eve!

Just a little snow on the ground and I'm just fine with that...especially since the sun is shining (cold, but nice to see the sun!).  Quick video of the boys this morning .  Wishing you and yours a beautiful and joyous Christmas!

Some PUP! Yep, that's what Charlotte Would've Said about ME...

That was some spider, don't you think?!?  
Well, as far as me - I know sit and down and how to "come in" (to my handler's side).  I heel nicely (indoors) off leash, and mama is now working on stays with me~it's kind of hard, but I'm working at it and doing great after such a short time.  I am also doing pretty good at the "stand" command..it's actually kind of fun to pop out of a sit to show you my stand!  Waiting to be released to my food bowl, to come out of my crate, and to go outdoors to potty is another part of my repertoire (that's kind of a fancy word for routine).  


I have a nice structure and come from a great breeding~trust me, my human mama spent hours and hours trying to get it just right-I think she did pretty good to get us! 


I do love to play, but I can also rest nicely in my crate...(just like my mama, daddy and grandparents...uhm, the canine ones anyway).  If I have to "go" I will let you know - just listen for my bark, bark. 


Although I am learning my manners, I am still a joyful puppy! ;0) I just celebrated my 4 month old birthday-WOO HOO, and for Christmas and/or the New Year, I'd REALLY like a family of my very own! ~ Won't you consider giving me a good home and making me part of YOUR family?  You won't be disappointed, I'm sure of it - just ask any of the other new owners and they'll tell you.


Well, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from JJ the Lab (aka, Jag, Jaggers, Jag-a-swag)
     P.S. - if you don't like the name, I'd be ok with whatever name you like) 

Here I am in my "sit" command...it's kind of boring, but I know
I will get a treat if I do a good job.

I always try to come when called...even when distracted. That's me

in the purple collar (I looked and "pointed" when I heard the whistle).

Mom had to edit the video just a bit, (we both had to stop

along the way to pee-sometimes you just can't help it).  The camera makes

me look bigger, I think.

Taken just tonight-mom wanted a photo, but had it on video

so caught this - we were just chillin' in the bed until dad walked in. Finn

went off to investigate...I'm enjoying the moment alone with the whole bed to myself!

It's Zoe's Turn

Today was a busy day...off to Love's Park, IL at 5:20 am for an agility trial then back home and off to Baraboo, WI for a hockey game at 5:00 pm.  Glad to be home now and watching the Badger football game.

Zoe was happy to get a little "Mom & Zoe" time in today.  Since I'd like to end this post on a happy note, I'll talk about her 2nd run (Standard) first, it was a little disappointing, but not that bad~her start line was awesome, her weaves rocked and there were a few other good things, but a couple of bobbles as well.

Our first run was Open JWW and we finally got our title, so whatever happened after that, really didn't matter! :0)  Her start line was fabulous, she read me well, and we were running well.  It's such a good feeling when you get that in sync with your dog. A huge thank you to Sara for offering to tape our run...thanks for the commentary as well~always love it when she does that.  It's so nice to view the really fun runs and it is fun to share them as well. I hope you enjoy watching..we had such a good time running this course.  We tied our fasted time in JWW at 6.06 YPS!

A Quick Post

I just love hearing from all the boys' new families!!  Here is a photo that I just found - it was contained in an email from Simba's family, but was lost in my "Spam" account.  I'm so glad I found it ... and just HAD to share it....It was entitled, "I Think I'm Hiding"  but perhaps "Can you see me now?", would be appropriate too.  Thank you Pam for sharing this!

Thanksgiving (a day late)

Hi All:  Hope you and your family had a wonderful day yesterday!  Ours was fairly quiet but nice.  Some cooking and baking, which included pumpkin pie, banana bread (just because bananas were "over-ripe"), fresh cranberries, sweet potatoes, dressing, crescent rolls and pheasant fingers (in lieu of turkey) fried in clarified butter - YUM!  Brian and the girls went out to South Dakota hunting for the first time last week and had a blast even though their trip was cut a day short due to a snow storm.  Before dinner we took the puppies and dogs all for a walk and then watched the Packer's game.

Later on, both puppies received much needed baths!  Whew, they were dirty and definitely in need of some grooming.  They are now soft and shiny and even smell good too!  I love our Tropiclean dog shampoo.  Baths, brushing, teeth brushed and nails trimmed.

Well, happy Black Friday to you...if you went shopping, I hope you got all the bargains you wanted.  As for me...I'm just happy to NOT be there (my Friday is full of black dogs anyway) :)  I'm at the Sauk Prairie Ice Rink hanging out during open hockey.  Kaden is getting in a little goalie practice today with the bigger kids and he's having a great time!

"Mom, I wanna be a GOALIE!"

Quick Update on Forest

The boy got some spoiling during his first hotel night as he got to sleep on the bed...I guess he was a bit confused about that, but I'm sure he enjoyed every moment of it!  Here is a photo of him enjoying one of his many new toys.  His new mom and dad were very smart and bought him a harness and a Thunder Shirt to ease any anxiety on the plane... I've been saying this boy needs a super-dog cape and this comes pretty close.

Forest - Making himself at home in
the hotel room.  Love that new shirt!

By the way he was excellent on the plane I hear-YAY!  Or perhaps Gary didn't notice anything with his fancy headphones on? :)  Either way, he is home now and bonding with his new family.  I heard he's come up with a cost-savings idea at the office already.  Who needs a paper shredder when you have a Forest?  Gotta love that pup!  


And the other pups?  Well, they are adjusting to their "life without Forest".  Things are a little less rambunctious in the house now, but then again, it's only been one day.  


Keep the puppy updates coming folks (on Forest, Jackson and Simba)...I love to hear about their new adventures and hope to post more updates!!

Farewell Forest

It's with a bit of a heavy heart that we said, "Goodbye" to our boy, Forest last night.  He is off to a wonderful home and wonderful family in CA where he will enjoy many, many new adventures, I'm sure.  His first one started last night ~ he stayed with his new family at a hotel in Madison and then off to the airport bright and early this morning.  His first flight on a plane was today - luckily he got to fly with all the people and not in cargo.  He loves people, so I'm sure he was pretty happy about that.  I'm not sure yet how he did on the plane, but knowing Forest, he was a bit of a handful!  I'm hoping I will hear from them later this evening when things settle down just a bit; I'll fill you in on the happenings.  


It is very bittersweet this time.  Mind you there was a little tug on the ole heartstrings when the other boys left for their new homes, but I knew this one was somehow special to us and we have all experienced a little more emotion than we thought we would.  He was the most vocal of the litter, so I'm guessing I won't miss that part, but every time a puppy leaves, the litter dynamics change as well.  I guess we'll see what these 2 boys have in store now.


It sounds like he will retain his strong name...and he responds to it well (most of the time anyway).  He will eventually be learning all about agility, snake training (very important in those parts) and perhaps experience a little hunting as well.  He will have lots of room to run and play too.  He showed his new family very quickly just how good that nose of his is!  He attacked the bag they brought that was full of new treats and toys.  They were just waiting to be gobbled up and chewed up by the love of a lab, don't you know?!


After he gets off the plane, he gets to head in to the office to spend some quality social time with the staff.  WOW!  Talk about a full day!  Hopefully, he will be a very tired puppy by the end of the day and the time change won't be significant.  I'm also hoping he'll let Susan and Gary get some much deserved rest after their whirlwind trip to and from Wisconsin.  


We were so glad they could come and meet us all in person!  We were able to spend several hours with them and learn more about the life that Forest will live.  We are so happy for them and glad that Forest will be able to have more individual training time.  He will also join a couple of other pets in his new household and a "big brother" (the human kind) as well.

Happy Family!
Susan, Gary and Forest

Good luck to all!  (we miss you Forest)  

Unsolicited Comments:

Just want to share a couple of excerpts from emails I've recently received:

"Not only is he absolutely adorable, but so smart!!!  Wow! Taught him “down” in one lesson last night.  I was able to show my husband later and Jackson laid down w/in seconds of being asked.  Wow!"

 "Jackson did AWESOME at his first Agility Trial.  Setup his and Bandit’s crates right next to each other so they could see each other but covered the whole setup so they were protected from other dogs.  They loved each other’s company and Jackson was a perfect Angel when Bandit went to run.  He learned quickly the treats came when Bandit returned!!!  LOL  It was a very noisy indoor soccer park setting, we were in a high traffic area, he behaved well with all the kids who wanted to play with him, and none of the noise bothered him a bit.  I just love a self-confident dog!!!  :)"

Fun with Forest

A little video clip of The Yellow Boy (he's so handsome!)

I've been a little light on the puppy videos, so have added this snip-it from Oct 28th.  Will try to get new ones up this weekend.  It's since SNOWED here in WI, but the weekend is supposed to get back in to the 50s.  Time to do a little Christmas shopping soon!  

And Then There Were Two...

Saber (now Jackson) with Mia
and New Big Bro Bandit

 Saber finds a home.  And I'm so happy for him.
As a member of his new family, Saber, now "Jackson", will learn to play agility (YAY!), live on a mini farm that includes another dog and a couple of horses.   He'll have lots of room to explore and roam, and eventually join Mia on her very adventurous, long-term hikes.  She's amazing and I'm so happy for our little pupper.  As an added bonus they live in WI, so I will get to see him develop and mature.   Best wishes to Jackson and Mia, I am grateful they found each other.  A special, "Thank you" goes out to Anne H, whom directed Mia to us after watching Zoe's agility run last Sunday.

Happy Family!

Finn's First Trial Experience

Doing a little work on Crate Games at the trial. 

A little difficult manning the video, but we tried it.

Sleeping Beauty

Finn at his first agility trial :)
We smuggled him in at almost 11 weeks old 

Finn (Kallie's Grand Finale) attended his first (small) AKC agility trial on Sunday.  He was such a great little boy.  He kept quiet in his kennel, just watching all of the goings on around him and taking in all the noises and smells, etc.  He even took out time for a couple of naps too.  Thanks to our friend Wendy for capturing some fun photos for us.  It was a very cold and windy day, but we had fun!

Mr. "Big Boy" Pants

Whomever gets this boy will be
very lucky, and will not disappointed!

Here's a photo I captured tonight of Forest, showing his (seldom seem) intensely serious side.  Doesn't he look like a Big Boy?

Fun with Forest-click here

Simba Finds a Home

Ok, so it's been a couple of weeks, but I finally have a moment (and found the cord for the camera - which is very helpful!).  Here is Simba with his new mom and dad...he joins several human kids and a couple of fur kids as well.

Mike, Pamela and Simba

Simba plants a big wet one on his new mommy, Pamela.

Indian Lake-October 22nd

We had another great day on Saturday at what mom calls "The Big Doggy Park".  It's a great park in Dane County where mom and grandma like to run and swim (when the water is clear).  We walked over this cool wooden bridge and met lots of new people and big dogs.  We got quick baths afterwards (the weather was beautiful and warm) and then took a nice, long nap.  I think mom enjoyed our napping and quiet time more than anyone!  Here are a few photos of us.

Puppy Adventures Continue

This weekend:  We said good-bye to Simba (red collar puppy) who went home to his fabulous new family on Friday.  Photos to come.
 - We traveled north 3 1/2 hours for a family gathering where we met lots of new people and animals, including a rescue doberman who can only use 3 of his legs, and a horse, who had very large legs.  Here are some of our weekend adventure photos.

Kaden read us poetry and sang us songs

Lots and lots of leaves to run and
 play in - I kind of blend in, huh?

A babbling brook was fun to cross

We ran down a big hill and back up again.

There was an old horse....I kind of liked him.

We saw and heard
a very loud train!

About 100 rail cars!

Lyndon Station Fire Dept
to the rescue (as well as the
WI Dells Fire Dept)

On the way home, we had to
 wait for the firetrucks a bit...this truck
 caught on fire and a grass
 fire broke out too.  Luckily all were safe!

We had lots of fun, but it's
good to be home again!

We call him, "Forest" I think he looks like his daddy

Purple Puppy Now Called "Jag"

First Swim

Green Collar Boy (was no collar) and Blue Collar Boy

Keeping a watchful eye

Really, Mom, it wasn't me!

Pink and Purple (was lime) Collar Boys

Red Collar Boy ....

These bottom two are "Red Boy" doing his best Lion King impression....perhaps we'll call him Simba

Adventureland

We had one full weekend of puppy activity at the Stracke household this weekend.  I took a much needed day off work on Friday to enjoy, train and play with the puppies (threw in some general housework of course too).  


Lots of new adventures for the litter - including wandering out of the yard, down the sidewalk and across a field.  We walked to the end of the cul-du-sac, down hills, up hills, through long grasses, weeds and sticks.  We walked and ran and had a great time going through tunnels, over wobble boards, and over jump bumps...really just the bars on the ground, but the puppies just love chasing so I'm not sure they even noticed them.  They are also retrieving in the hall...Not sure they were ready to retrieve with the distractions of the great outdoors just yet, but probably soon....want to make sure they get it down in the house before that.  Oh, almost forgot...they had a short car ride with me to the trap club for some exposure to gunfire~which didn't bother them a bit.  The cheese and leftover prime rib, might have helped.  So, that was our Friday and most of it we repeated on Saturday and Sunday (less the gunfire).


Earlier this week, I replaced the "pen" (whelping box) with a crate which is inside their exercise pen.  They have all learned to sit before the door opens to go outside the ex-pen and before they get their meals.  I'm so proud of the little boys.  But they are boys and do their share of rough-housing too, don't get me wrong. 


Since it was such a beautiful day, we decided to give the dogs each some "alone" fun time.  Zoe got to work on some jumps in the back and Kallie got to go to Indian Lake for a good long run and some water retrieves/swimming (I'm sure Zoe was VERY jealous).  Then we decided we'd take the pups for a (longer) car ride and to another park with water, which is usually less populated, if anyone is there at all.  They pups had so much fun running a muck in the new surroundings.  They all ventured to the water, but not all were quite willing to take the plunge of a full blown swim.  I have to admit, it was a bit chilly and rocky, I know because  I took off my shoes and socks, rolled up the pants and waded in.


Once home they all got their first (much needed) baths.  So, a very busy and adventurous weekend for the puppies, who are now, like me, exhausted!  It's true... a tired puppy is a good puppy!!


I'll see if any of the photos or videos turned out and try to post in the next day or two... so please check back.

Be well,


Rachelle

Six Weeks

So, here is my attempt at stacking a litter of nearly six week old puppies.  Please keep in mind I have never stacked a pup before, and they can really be wriggly little buggers.  It's a little early I know, as eight weeks is considered optimal time for seeing their future structure.  Regardless, here are the boys.

Blue
Sorry, but the photographer (aka hubby) cut off his nose in all his pictures)

"Mr. Green, please put your foot back where it was"

Green - was "no collar" boy.

Lime - I didn't do so well with his back leg placement...and it started to rain! : )

Pink - hard to see against my dark jacket, so look close.

Pink - You can see better in this one.

Red - love his tail in this one-it goes up and down : 0)