It’s been too long since I’ve been in touch about Daisy. We adopted her in the summer of ’05 and we so enjoy having her as part of our family. She was a bit over the top with separation anxiety when we first brought her home and, while she can sometimes still become a little anxious, she is so much better now. Hard to believe that three years have gone by so quickly. We all went through the loss of our long time family member, Casco, a fabulous yellow lab, last year and it broke our hearts. We’ve been a long time 2 lab family…so we may keep that tradition and add another lab to the family…but not quite yet. In the meantime just wanted to let you know that Daisy has been a great addition.

Two weeks in her new home and just lovin it. I think she’ll stay!! Ruby has just fit into our home and lifestyle with ease. She has become my constant shadow, never letting me get too far away before checking on me. Hopefully she will learn to know that I always return and she doesn’t need to get up and follow my every move.

Her rehab is going well. Her and I are both counting down the days til she can run and chase the ball! She hates sitting on the leash while Caly plays ball with my husband. The squirrels are teasing her too. We have taken her swimming a couple times and she does enjoy that alot. I’ll be taking radiographs of her knee the end of this week to show to the veterinarian that did the surgery, on Monday. All seems to be healing well …so this will tell. Wish us luck! We will keep you updated on her progress.

We are still enjoying Max immensely. He’s such a clown! After a recent visit to the vet, it turns out Max has Lyme Disease and Heartworms. The Lyme will be easily treated with a course of Doxycycline and he is in the early stage of Heartworm disease and that is being treated with a monthly dose of Heartgard Preventative. He will be rechecked in 3 months. Other than that things are going incredibly well. My 7 year old daughter is determined to teach him to roll over. I can’t wait to see that happen - he’s so tall and lanky! We love him very much. Max has completed our family.

Just checking in with an update on Ruby….she’s doing great! Snoozing right now. It was a busy day hanging out in the yard, helping in the garden (eating the vegetables!) and enjoying the beautiful weather. She has fit in well to our household, and big sister Calypso has shown her where all the good toys and treats are kept. They seem to be adjusting to all the new changes without much hesitation. She has gone to work with me a couple days this week and everyone loves her….and she loves all the attention. We are learning her ways and always wondering what life before NEARR was like for her. She is well mannered and lovable. Obviously she was well cared for and loved. I am attaching a picture of her taken today.

Kismet has been with us for 4 months now and is thriving.

We wouldn’t know she was a “special needs” dog (well, except for the vet bills, but we knew what we were getting into!). She seems perfectly normal on a day to day basis, and recent prognoses from vets is that they think her heart problems, while still significant, fall more into the category of “moderate,” versus the “severe” we thought we were starting with.

We have seen our regular vet plus the cardio/ultrasound specialist and are on a follow-up schedule for periodic observation. The doc cleared Kismet for a spay, so we had that done in August. She hated being kept idle at home for 10 days, but managed the e-collar just fine.

There’s a photo attached from today, and one taken in the same place when she had just arrived — she’s grown a lot! At 8 months she weighs in at about 53 pounds, so we’re thinking she may top out on the smaller side, at about 60-65. There are a couple of other photos attached showing her doing her favorite things (other than sleeping and swimming, that means chewing and chasing).

Behavior training practice has fallen by the wayside a bit since we finished our class in July. My husband keeps up far better than I do, and Kismet is a Daddy’s Girl as a result. I need to break out the treat bag and the clicker for some practice! I suppose being able to ease back on the training a bit is some indication that she has adapted well to life here with us and has sound good manners.

All’s well & we’re glad she’s part of our pack.

We are really enjoying Max! In just his first week he has been out to doggie playgroup with me Mon-Fri, he has gone swimming and is even going rollerblading with my husband! He’s a wonderful pet. I am pleasantly surprised that he has not had one accident! He is very loved by all of us. We plan to get him to the vet this week for a complete physical. He also has been to Petco twice - and he’s very well behaved.

I’ll be back in touch with the next update soon. We almost feel like Max has been with us all along - he fit right in from day one.

Duke Skywalker reporting in on the Fourth Anniversary of my Adoption! Life here in my forever home continues to keep getting better and better. A few months ago Big Boss and the Mrs. brought me a special present. It’s my very own little playmate, something they call a “granddaughter”. My job is to guard her every time she comes to visit. She is going on seven months old and likes to play with me. She jabbers some kind of foreign language and I lick her face. I know from past experience that I have to be gentle with her but that’s just my nature anyways. I’ve always loved kids from when I was a pup.

Big Boss says I’m in the prime of my life right now at age 35. He means age five but I have to humor him with this dog year’s thing. I still love to sleep in the morning and don’t really get too active until about four in the afternoon. Afternoons and evenings are my active time and Boss still takes me for long walks along a neat trail in the woods that has a brook. I swim, chase stuff through the woods, get really grubby and muddy and then watch Boss cringe when I get back in the pickup. He might as well forget about keeping it clean. It’s my truck and that’s just the way it is. You wanted me. Now deal with it!

I’ve had health issues but nothing I couldn’t handle. Guy dogs just suck up the pain and deal with it! First it was that blown out knee and TPLO surgery. I’m better and faster now than I was before. Boss gives me glucosamine and other stuff every day and I’ve never had any more problems. I had Lyme disease awhile back but my tests have been negative the last two years. I had stomach issues but Boss pays big money for some fancy vet prescription diet. I have pretty bad allergies and I also have a little problem with my south side. Boss has to “express” something on my rear end about once a month. I don’t think he’s fond of this particular procedure but I’m not exactly crazy about it myself. You wanted me. Now deal with it!

I’m still trying to catch a fish by myself out of our lake. This could be my year. I’ve tipped Boss over once already in the kayak. I love to do that. The secret is to stretch out and pretend to drink out of the lake. If I stretch far enough he’s gone. You’d think he’d learn but he doesn’t seem to catch on. People are so goofy sometimes.

Best to All
Duke Skywalker (NEARR Duece)

Logan appears to be settling into our home very comfortably. Still not trustworthy off leash and seems to be a little less nervous. We are thinking of changing his name to Shadow because he never leaves our side. T/E were great foster parents and Logan is still most comfortable on the blanket they sent with him.

We welcomed Bear & Sadie into our family March 1,2001. They are now 12 & 12 1/2 and doing great. Everyone who meets Bear thinks he is 2. He is full of energy and still loves to hike and swim. Sadie was never one for exercise and prefers the social aspects of life! She took up fishing for a summer, but didn’t have any luck.

We now have 2 children who absolutely love them. Bear and our eldest have an amazing bond. We have been so fortunate to have them in our lives!!

I cannot believe it has been a year since Polly came into my life. She’s kept me active with walks and I’ve made good friends (there’s nothing like a beautiful, friendly, happy dog to attract conversation) through her. She’s come a long way in a year; she’s much calmer because she knows our routine and doesn’t get frantic worrying about what’s going to happen next and because she has play dates almost every day to burn off excess energy.

She’s learned a long “down,” to go into her crate on command, wait, stay, sit, go in the car (she loves that one). She recognizes routes to her favorite walking and swimming spots and lets me know it by a crescendo of yips the closer we get.

There are numerous rabbits around here (where’s a coyote when you need one?) and she would be supremely happy to catch one.It’s a personal affront when one comes near a window she’s looking through.

We’re still working on not pulling when on leash. Prong collar is only thing that works so far. She still gets excited on walks; wants to see and smell everything. Plan to hire a trainer for a couple of one-on-one sessions.

Its hard to believe but seven years have gone by since Bailey found her forever home through NEARR. She is now almost 13 years old and in good health. She’s had a few minor issues but despite sometimes showing her age, she still loves to fetch her ball (especially red fetch-n-flash balls), wade through chest-deep water and chase cats around. Her favorite past-time, being a Lab, is eating anything remotely resembling food. About one year ago she had a bout with pancreatitis, she recovered fully from that and has since been on a low fat diet. The diet has keep her in great shape and I hope she has many dog years left. I am so thankful for the work NEARR did for Bailey and continues to do for these dogs and the people with whom they find homes.

Maisy is doing very well. We just got back from vacation in Michigan. Maisy had a great time running and swimming with the 6 other visiting dogs (4 goldens and 2 labs). She became fast friends with a redheaded golden, Casey. She was an excellent traveler and house guest. The Customs guards at the border crossings remarked on how well behaved she was. Just before we left Maisy graduated from obedience training. She did well but needs more work on “stay” and “wait”. Maisy has really come a long way in just over two months. She is a pleasure to have around.

Koal has really accepted me as his Friend and master. He comes to me and snuggles, which he didn’t before. I think we both realized that we had lost something that was very important to our lives and had to take time to let it go, but not forget. He has the best life possible. Attached is him inside after a morning of fun and exercise with the two labs next door.

Logan has had an exciting two weeks with swimming in the Atlantic on Cape Cod, meeting new friends at the local doggy park in Dennis and going to Weymouth where he met more friends at a beautiful park. He also attempted to hunt birds and was quite unsuccessful. I went to town hall today and licensed him so he is now a legal resident.

Koal is adapting so well. I took him on a long walk last weekend to teach him to stay with me and not walk me. He did so well, in just a few blocks he would slow down to my pace with just a small wait command. Attached is his chilling out on my deck after a good workout with me and his two playmates next door. The stairs going down are blocked so he can go on the deck without being tied up and feel some freedom. Both our lives have been improved so much.

This is Maisy’s one month update. She is doing great. She has two training sessions and is learning well. We’re starting to learn “heel” and “stay”, which have presented a little more of a challenge. She’s also responding to her name when unleashed in my fenced yard. Her training program will be complete before we go to MI in August for vacation. She weighed in at a slender 77lbs. at her vet appointment. He put her on a round of antibiotics for her lick granuloma, because she responded well to that before. We’ll go back in two weeks for a follow up. One interesting note, she seems to shy away from men. This happened with both my brother and my friends, even when she had already met them before. We’ll work on that. She’s been welcomed into the circle of friends, even when she was a less than polite house guest. We were invited for supper at a friend’s house. Everyone was getting seated around the table, when Maisy just reached up with her snout and grabbed a chicken tip. The kids thought it was hilarious. I moved her out of the eating area (where she could still watch us). It was unexpected, because she’s pretty good about not begging. As you can see she has made great progress in one month.

Kismet has been with us for a month now, and fits in like it was meant to be. We are in week two of obedience training. She sits on cue, lies down with an authoritative thump of elbows, and does “touch” to a stick, from which she’s learning to jump to touch and also to push shut the fridge door. “Settle” is a tough command still, sitting or lying quietly on leash when there’s a lot of activity going on around us (specfically, other dogs).

Kismet and Taeva exhaust each other, thankfully, so everyone’s getting a good ration of exercise and play. You may notice that most of my Kismet pictures are of her asleep, which will give you a good indication of what we’re doing when the camera’s off. This past Saturday she was so wrung out, she slept where she landed, at one point asleep belly-up under a chair, with upright paws propped against the chair-rails!

In the hot weather we had lately, I’d draw an inch of water in the bathtub once in a while, for the dogs to stand in to get paws cool. Kismet is fascinated by running water, and summoned up the bravery to jump into the tub on her own. She remains curious (aka nosy) about the shower. That said, on the beach this weekend, Kismet waded in withers-deep but didn’t swim. We may need to be around other swimming dogs for her to really make the water connection (my swimming is apparently not dog-like enough, as she paced my laps but didn’t hop in).

Our visit to our day-to-day vet went fine, about a week ago. We have a cardio-specialty follow-up in about a month & will let you know what we learn. All well with us, she’s terrific!

Week two with Maisy has gone really well. She is walking well with the gentle leader. She has stopped barking and jumping up in the window when I leave for work in the morning. We are registered for a Beginner Two class. She is very attentive and responsive, so I’m sure she will do well. She is still meeting family and friends and loving it all. We are having a great time.

It occurred to me that Casey’s first family might check the web site for news, even four years later, so we think it’s time for an update! Casey is a wonderful creature. We are eternally grateful that he is not a counter surfer or a garbage hound. We are also grateful that he is truly a beta. He loves all dogs, gets a little confused if they don’t play the Lab way, but manages to have a great deal of fun with all dogs, large and small. He has an indoor voice, and an outdoor voice, and we love the way his chin wrinkles when he’s getting ready to bark. He actually deserves (and has) his CGC, something we didn’t think could be in the cards when he first came home. He walks on loose lead (a big WOW), still has all the tricks he came with (high five, give paw, give the other paw), and has learned a few more! All his commands are by hand signal. He’s gentle with our ancient cat, though he’s pretty jealous when the attention isn’t all coming his way. He has wrangled his way into the hearts of the entire family. Watching him take a walk led by a toddler is so sweet (we are right nearby in case he sees another dog or a squirrel)! He very quickly discovered water, spends hours a week with us romping in whatever woods we happen to be near, and naps on the sofa depending on his whim. He is very, very special.

Maisy is adjusting to the daily schedule very well. She sits now and watches me leave in the morning instead of jumping up on the window sill and barking. She has also learned the joys of a Kong which helped with the separation process in the morning. She improves on the leash, with the gentle leader, almost every walk. She is getting better at responding to her name when we are out in the yard. We made the rounds of meeting family and friends last week. She loved meeting everyone and was very well behaved. We are having a great time getting to know each other. I think we are a really good match and I’m very happy to have her.

Thanks NEARR,
M and Maisy