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!