Bailey is such a wonderful dog! He’s already a big part of our family. He & Luke are buddies, although Luke can’t play as much as I know Bailey would like. We start obedience classes tomorrow. The only problem we have to work on is the leash. At 104lbs. it’s easy for Bailey to pull you down! He loves all people & dogs and gets so excited when company comes over. His favorite places seem to be the beach and the hiking trails across from our house. He’s been such a wonderful addition to our home! Thank you!!

What a joy it is to have Duke in our lives. Duke and Otis are becoming quite close. When they are outside they are always together and when they are inside they sleep together. In the evenings when I’m reading Duke sleeps right at the bottom of my chair, so all I have to do is put my foot down and rub his side.

Now that the kids are back in school, Duke and I do our daily walks after they are on the bus. On our walks Duke is not pulling as much and he is heeling nicely. Just the other day my daughter was able to walk him around the neighborhood and he stayed at her side.( I kept my hand on the end of the leash)

The only bad habit Duke has is drinking out of the toilet.LOL So I just keep reminding everyone to put down the lid and that solves the problem.

My son is trying to teach Duke how to play football. He will have Duke sit and then throw the ball and then my son and Duke run for it. Duke usually gets there first. My husband has his special way of playing with Duke. When he comes home from work and sits down Duke comes over to him and starts play biting his hand. Then they end up on the floor with Duke on his back getting a belly rub while playing biting my husbands hand.

Duke is wonderful. I believe he knows he is with his forever family. Thank you again for giving us Duke!

I apologize it has taken me so long to write…I have been quite busy. It has been 2 1/2 years since I came to live with my family. This past year, there have been many new additions…aka my new sisters, twin girls. I love them so. I am very protective. When they were born, I used to lie on my parents bed and watch them for hours. When people came to visit, I made sure that they were worthy of holding the girls…okay so I used to bark at anyone who picked them up. but we all worked through that. Through rain, snow, and cold, we take walks everyday and I get to see my friends at the park and at the farm. I wish we went to the farm more, since I do love to run and swim in the pond, but I think we will go more during the spring when it is warmer. So, to sum it all up..I love my sisters, especially when they let me lick the oatmeal off their hands.

As for me, I have the dog’s life. I hang in my yard, lay on the rug or my bed..my favorite sleeping spot is my parents bed..too bad they sleep there at night and it is crowded. Last fall, I was diagnosed with allergies. We are not talking a small bit. I feel if you are going to be allergic to something, might as well be allergic to everything from grass and trees to wheat and grains. I eat a food made of sweet potatoes and fish. I also get allergy shots every three weeks. I hate those shots…my mom tries to distract me with a carrot while my dad shoots me with a needle but I am too smart for that. Usually I am across the room. I do feel better though and my coat is shiny again.

Well, I should go. I have some lounging to do. I am sending along a couple pictures. As you can see, my 8 year old life is pretty good. I will see you all at the picnic.

Having Duke in our family is wonderful! He was great on his trip from his foster home to ours. The dogs welcomed him with no problems. On Friday he surprised me when he followed my daughter on to our trampoline (that is surrounded with a net). He just watched her climb in and before I knew it he was walking around on the trampoline with her!! We got him down right a way. And now I keep a close eye on him when the kids are on the trampoline! We still laugh when we talk about him on the trampoline!

Duke is very sensitive. On the night Jasmine passed away, I was sitting in my chair and I was very upset. Duke came right over to me and actually climbed into my chair with me and put his head on my lap. He is so sweet!

Duke sleeps in our bedroom with his dog bed. Duke doesn’t get up in the morning until I get up. If I sleep in a little, R. has to come and get him so he can eat his breakfast, then he comes right back to bed! At night he helps me put the kids to bed. When I put my daughter to bed, Duke has been sleeping with her on her bed until I come and get him. There isn’t much room on the bed for both of them! My son loves to play ball and tug of war with him. Duke and Otis are getting closer and closer every day. They are both learning how the other plays. It is so cute to see them sort of dance around each other with there tails going. And I love to see them lying down side by side.

Duke went to the vet yesterday. While we were waiting in the lobby I think Duke was nervous because all of the sudden he started to bark his big bark. It was so funny because everyone sort of stopped and looked at us and then they laughed. Duke was great with the doctor. He does need to loose some weight. He weighed in at 115 lbs. The doctor said he should weigh in the high 90’s. I talked to the vet and we are going to slowly put Duke on some food for over weight dogs. Duke did very well with his shots and having his blood drawn. He leaned on me the whole time. When we left all the office staff had to come and meet him. Duke was so good and he loved every minute of it.

Duke doesn’t let us forget his morning walks. Every morning he sits by the door and just looks at us. Then it’s off we go around the neighborhood.

Both Otis and Duke are always close by, which I love. Duke is always in the same room that I’m in and if I’m not he comes looking for me. We are very grateful to have Duke. R. and I agree that Duke is part of this family and we feel he knows it. It’s like he has always been here. I hope this letter show how well Duke is doing here. He is loved very much! I will be in touch. Thank you for letting us adopt Duke!

You might be interested to know that late this fall Dirk was finally able to be left alone for short periods of time and is now able to be left while we go to church, out to dinner, to the gym, etc. The vet and his staff were not sure that he ever would get over his separation anxiety and it was a long, long, long haul. But, we now are able to have a life!

Dirk is a lucky dog because he gets one long walk every morning where he can swim and run through the woods. Most mornings our neighbor and her 18-month old yellow lab are with us so he gets extra exercise. Most afternoons he gets another walk in the woods - sometimes as long as the morning but not always. Each of our daughters has a male yellow rescue lab - one from a kill shelter in Georgia and one from the hurricane so we often have three labs in the house, or four if our neighbors are away as they were for a week last Thanksgiving! Dirk takes it all in stride and is happy as long as he gets his food, some attention and his daily long walks.

Dirk really began to wag his tail this past winter. It took him a long time to wag it at all and I doubt if it ever will be a table-clearing wag; however, he does wag it now! And, best of all, he has started grunting when we pat him.

Dirk is definitely part of our family and goes almost every where with us. Soon we will be moving to the cottage for the summer so he will be able to go in the water whenever he feels like it and not have to wait for a walk. He has a good life and we are delighted with him.

Wow! Cannot believe it is that time again - another year has passed too quickly. It seems like I just found the NEARR website and applied to adopt our “baby” Sailor. He continues to just be the best natured dog, we and our friends agree. Those big brown eyes just melt everyone’s heart and you can actually feel him smiling at you.

What haven’t I said about our lives with Sailor? He continues to be our best buddy - he actually has bonded more with his Dad the past several months while I had to be away. Mine is not the ONLY bedside anymore - he will choose to sleep next to “Dad”. He continues to “dance” when we walk - he loves to run or race after a ball and actually on occasion will make a high jump over the chaise in the family room! (Yes, we do toss a tennis ball around inside.)

Bottom line is - we love this guy and we think the feeling is mutual. Thanks everyone @ NEARR, keep up the great job of taking care of all the “puppies - young and old” and finding forever homes for them. We are SO HAPPY you decided that Sailor was right for us.

ps- Sailor will soon be sailing again, still working on the swimming!

We are past the one year anniversary of when we adopted Indy (nee Indiana Bones) and we have all had a terrific year together. Indy has made so much progress in her health and behavior that she looks and acts like a new dog. She is adjusting well to living in the city and our apartment, but still enjoys regular getaways to the beach or mountains whenever possible.

Healthwise, Indy’s allergies are under control and her weight is down from 105 lbs. to a svelte 77 lbs. through better diet and regular exercise (fetch and early morning jogs). She gets high praise from the vet and even passersby on how fit and pretty she is. Unfortunately, her slimmed-down physique did not prevent her from tearing her ACL last week while playing fetch. In typical Lab-form she wanted to continue the fetch game on three legs. She will have surgery next week at Angell Memorial and should back to full speed when summer rolls around.

Her behavior overall is much better. She is pretty good on the leash and is very obiedient when left to roam when we’re in the country. She is very well-behaved indoors when we are around and always wants to be in the same room as us. Indy is still wary/scared of strange dogs, but is fine once she realizes other dogs just want to be her friends.

We have a lot of fun with Indy. She is sweet, loving, devoted, energetic and has a great sense of humor. We are very proud of her for all the progress she has made and are delighted she is part of our family. Thanks to NEARR for bringing us together.

Here are some recent pictures of Lucy who was adopted last year from NEARR.

We just returned from a 2 mile walk to the lake where Mort swam for a good hour. We try to do this 3-4 times a week, and it is the greatest joy in his dog life. He would swim and fetch for hours if we let him! He is a great retriever (of course), and comes when called, so we felt confident in allowing him to start swimming supervised without a leash.

Mort has been integrated into our extended family of pets. He thinks the cats are playmates, but they think otherwise. He and Heidi the dacshund still argue over bones and chew toys, but it usually turns into a game. He is a gentle giant, who has calmed down considerably on his leash, and is learning not to lunge at other dogs while walking (thanks to obedience training and some diligent work on our part). He brings such joy to us, especially when he wakes us up in the morning by licking our faces and jumping on the bed.

Mort looks forward to our daily walks. We walk 2-3 miles a day, which has also benefited our health. He is a great hiking companion, and the boys are really looking forward to swimming with him at the lake in New Hampshire this summer. He actually watches the television. We can no longer watch “Wheel of Fortune”, because everytime Vanna turns a letter the “ding” sound makes him bark. After a couple of nights of that, we decided we could live without watching “The Wheel”. (His former family must have had a doorbell.)

He also likes to “sing” when my husband plays the guitar. It makes for great harmony.

Thanks again for choosing us as Mort’s “forever family”. He is our trusted companion, and adds so much to our family. I’ve attached some pictures taken this morning of Mort and his swimming adventures. Hope you enjoy them.

We just wanted to let NEARR know that we have finally found a friend for Bella, our NEARR adoptee of 2 years ago. It took a long time to find a good match, but we finally succeeded - we found a small lab/ border collie mix at a canine rescue close to our home. Her name is Rylee, and she has the right temperment and energy level to keep Bella in line and keep her confidence up! They are loving life. I’ve attached a couple of pictures.

Best wishes to NEARR in all that you do for these great dogs-

Here’s a quick update of Zeus at 3 months …..

He’s doing very well, we love him, and he seems to be very happy here in Vermont. Today he went to the beach and got to play in the cold lake water with three other labs for about 1/2 hour chasing toys, dogs, and running up and down the beach, plus a forty minute walk to and from the beach, running and chasing toys etc. Then my friend came over and picked up Amber (3 y.o. yellow female missle) (she went to the beach also) and decided that another walk was in order, so he took Zeus also for another 1 hour walk with Amber,then once back home we drove tennis balls into the woods with a tennis racket for Amber and Zeus to find, and then after dinner just a few more minutes of “Chase the tennis ball”

I’m currently installing a “Lab pond” (pool) in the back yard, it’s a 1000 gallon stock tank for the dogs to play in this summer . Zeus thinks all the dirt is for him to play in. I’ll send pic’s when the Lab pool in completed …..it will also be used for rehab for dogs with repaired ACL’s etc.

Zeus has gone thru his 14 month “dumb spell” and were starting to see a change in his personality…he’s slowing down just a tad…..listening more, and behaving better …..

Tired labs are truly wonderful.

Our Abby “Gabby” is doing wonderful. I believe she loves us as much as we love her. She is a kind, loving, well behaved, sweet sweet dog. She has her daily walks with J. everyday (as long as the weather is decent, not that she cares, it’s the human that does!!!!) and also play time with her favorite-ball on a strap, repeatedly. =o) Can’t get enough. Her face when she looks at us tells us how much she is enjoying the games. When the rest of our family (and friends) come over she is now running to them and “talking”. When we have to leave her home for a couple of hours, it’s so nice to see her looking out the window (yes, sometimes she is up on the couch to see better!) and you can tell her tail is wagging away!! We can’t wait to bring her to our Maine home and let her swim and run to her hearts content. She has been up this winter but doesn’t realize that the frozen “stuff” she’s on is really WATER!!!!!

In the mail today was all of Roxy’s medical and heritage data, and it was so helpful for us to further understand her. She certainly seemed to have a wonderful life with her family, and please assure them we will continue to love and take care of her, as she is now also a part of our family. She is still very much a countersurfer, and we have to get use to that. Last week she ate a whole stick of butter left on the dining room table in a covered dish. Today, she ate 1/3 loaf of italian bread that was set up high on a counter, so we have learned our lesson, and all food will now be behind cupboards!!

She met the male yellow lab, Bailey, who lives across the street yesterday, and they are now best of friends. Not even a growl between them. They are both very energetic and would chase the ball for hours. This morning’s walk was over 3 miles, and she seems to thrive on the adventure. As long as we lose weight too, we will all be happy!! We know she went to the Cape during the summer months, and S.’s parents live there, so she will still be enjoying Cape Cod all year long. On Wednesday we took her to Cape Cod to meet her grandparents, and she went to the beach. There is alot of ball playing every day, and as you know, she never tires of chasing the ball or the frisbee. This week she spent every day outside with St. doing yardwork and acting as his constant shadow. She is so sweet, and we are so happy to have her as a member of our family.