I can’t believe it’s been four months already! Duke is very happy! I have attached a picture of Duke (chocolate lab) and Otis (yellow lab mix) Duke is having a great a summer. He has spent his time hunting chipmunks and bugs. He is more successful at getting the bugs. Duke and Otis have been playing together very well. They chase each other and play tug a war. Duke is now more comfortable. He will lay outside with Otis when I am inside. We are still doing his morning walks and he his getting much better on the leash. He occasionally will pull me to a neighbor if I’m not prepared. The only problem we have encountered with Duke is that he likes to sleep in our bed. lol:) He doesn’t realize how big he is and there isn’t enough room for me if he is on the bed!! lol:) Duke is a wonderful family member. Thank you so much letting Duke be a part of our family.

Tru/Libby had a good week overall. She is showing marked improvement with her eye and urinary tract infections. She is settling in nicely with our routines. She has, however, shown some separation anxiety, which is very understandable. Having left her home of 4 years, then leaving the foster home, she is probably very worried that we will abandon her! The stability and predictability of our daily routines should help her get over that, so we’re not too worried about it. She sat with her head in my lap tonight while we were watching tv. She is very affectionate.

Jessi is displaying some jealousy this week though, whereas last week she thought this new playmate was just too good to be true! They get along 99% of the time. The 1% gets pretty rough, but our doggie daycare lady said we should let them work it out on their own unless there’s a chance for one of them to get hurt.

Hello everyone, It has been almost a year and a half for Miss Pink Lucy! She is very happy and doing well. We have been busy swimming, walking, and of course playing chuck it! Lucy has Cozmo her best friend. The two are never apart, they just love each other very much.Thank’s again for choosing me to be Lucy’s Mom. Here are some photo’s of the Girls.

It is hard to believe we have had Blackjack now for three years. Where does the time go? But at the same time it is like she has been in the family forever, it’s funny how that can happen with dogs. Blackjack is doing really well. Even though she is 11 she still has a lot of her puppy energy. She is getting ready for another new addition to the family as my husband and I are having a baby at the end of September. She knows something is going on but I am sure it will still be a big surprise. It is funny because she has always kind of been my husband’s dog but now that I am pregnant she spends more and more time at my feet as though she is protecting me. And at night she tends to curl up right near my stomach as if she can feel the baby move or maybe even hear the heartbeat. Luckily we have seen her with other babies in the past so we really aren’t worried, plus we have done a lot of research on introducing a new baby to a dog. It will be interesting to see how it all goes.

Blackjack has had a nice summer with swimming and playing in the fields not too far from our house. It is a Sunday morning tradition that we take her out there and just let her run around. Last weekend, she actually played with a fox and baby deer while there. She also goes to doggy daycare one day a week at a new place in our town. She gets so excited about going and has a blast when she is there. They have an indoor pool and because they know how much she likes the water she gets to spend a lot of her time in the pool. We have been told that she is usually the first to welcome a new dog into the playgroup and they consider her the Grand Dame whenever she is there. When I pick her up in the afternoons she is happy to see me but you can just tell that she would love to stay also. We are very happy the place opened up and we will keep taking her once a week for as long as we can.

We are so happy to have Blackjack as a part of our family and we definitely have NEARR to thank for that. Enjoy the rest of the summer and we’ll keep you posted on things.

Today is our one-year anniversary (give or take a day or a week) with Sadie, our lovely lab. I’ve attached a photo of her taken today at the dog park near our house. We found out about the park only recently; it was created in memory of an animal rights activist in our community, and it’s a great place for Sadie to socialize with other dogs. Early on in Sadie’s stay with us, it became clear that she did not know how to play with other dogs. But she is learning quickly with her friends at the dog park. It’s such a pleasure to see her play with canine friends. She loves playing with me and J., especially with her squeaky toys as part of the picture, but she was clueless when it came to other dogs. The younger, bigger dogs at the park are teaching her how to be one of the pack. She usually is top dog, but everyone now a large male will show up, and Sadie immediately assumes her appropriate place in the pecking order. Sadie’s regular routine is to get an early-morning walk with me to the beach, where she likes to take a quick dip, then lounge around the house with Simon, our cat, and J. Then it’s to the dog park in the early evening. She’s happy, healthy, and a joy to have as a member of our family. I look forward to the day when we can have two dogs in our house. They’ll have to be smaller then our 90-lb Sadie, though!

Hello! I’d like to keep this brief, but I have so much to tell you that it just isn’t going to happen!

1. Our ride home with our “new baby” was three and a half hours long due to horrendous traffic! We stopped 3 times to let Tru out for the bathroom and just to break up the ride.

2. We decided to change her name since she is starting a new life, we want to drop all associations she may have with that name. Her new name is “Libby.” She learned it by the end of the first day and really seems to like it!

3. Once home, we noticed the same day that she was urinating frequently, but attributed it to the stress/anxiety of the change. Also on that second day, her eyes started to redden and got progressively worse with “goop” dripping all over her face. A trip to the vet confirmed our suspicions . . . she had an eye infection and a urinary tract infection! She is now on meds and the up-side of this it that she didn’t even know she was sick! She and Jessi have been playing/running hard for a week. The only time they stop is when they are completely exhausted and fall asleep on the spot! (You know the saying, “A tired puppy is a good puppy.) We now have two GREAT puppies!!

4. Libby thinks she is in Doggie Disneyland. I’m sure that she has never seen horses from the look on her face when we first got out of the car! She has
also discovered wild rabbits and turkeys, though she doesn’t have a chance at ever catching them! Because of our isolation and her incredible response to
“come”, she is able to run loose (but never unattended) with us in the yard every day. Just the freedom has done wonders for her wiggles.

5. We have signed up for the next dog obedience class which starts September 5. But we’re not waiting til then. Everything is a training opportunity: “sit”
before we throw the ball/frisbee, “down” before entering/exitting doors, “stay” as we put down food dishes, etc. She is making great progress for only a week and yet it’s amazing to see that our 15 month-old puppy is very well trained, as she waits for Libby to “get it.”

6. In summary, we love Tru/Libby! Thanks to all who helped make it happen. I promise the future updates will be short and sweet!

Hudson continues to make us smile everyday! He is an absolute joy, except when he steals your seat on the couch! We thought we would actually be able to keep him off the couch, but he had other ideas.

He has been a great big brother to our daughter. He is having a blast now that she is getting solid food! He is better then any vacuum.

Hudson has his routine down. If you even think about putting your shoes on, changing your clothes or move his leash you have no choice but to take him out! He is getting much better on his walks, the gentle leader is amazing!

We are so very lucky to have him. This past year has been so much fun! We look forward to another summer with him.

Hi Everyone!

Its me, Jake. I wanted to let you all know that I’ve been in my new home now for over a month – can you believe it? I really feel at home and it seems like I’ve been here forever. I am part of a crazy family with 2 other dogs (you know them, Dallas and Lucy), plus two cats; we have a lot of fun – although those cats are a little shady with their quiet paws and the way they jump off and on the high furniture. I really like to wrestle with Dallas – we lay on the floor and just wrestle with our heads; Mom and Dad make fun of me because I make a lot of funny noises when I wrestle. Lucy is a very pretty girl, I think she’s a little smitten with me – that’s ok with me, I really like her too. Lucy and I like to sit close to each other and Lucy nuzzles and snuffles me and gives me kisses; sometimes I kiss her too, but I’m a little shy with the ladies. I’m having so much fun here – with Dallas and Lucy, my new parents, and can you believe they even let me use the computer! This is great!

I’ve lost almost 10 lbs since I’ve been here – Mom and Dad say that’s great because I’m faster now. I’m really starting to play more outside, and I’m trotting and running more. I like to play ball, but that Lucy – boy is she CRAZY! Dallas plays with the soccer balls, but I still rather the tennis balls – but that Lucy she stuffs as many as she can in her mouth and takes them all. Dad always brings more than she can stuff in there, so I still get to play.

I like to sleep next to Mom’s bureau for part of the night, and then I go do my heavy sleeping on my leather loveseat in the office. Dallas always sleeps on the bed next to Mom, and Lucy sleeps in the living room or the hallway – she doesn’t like to sleep in the beds very often.

I’m not sure what else to tell you – I’m pretty excited that my new home is so fun, what a great place for a guy like me. Thanks NEARR for helping me find a home where everyone loves me so much. I will send pictures soon, Dallas has been too busy to show me how to attach them to my email and I just can’t wait for him anymore. You won’t recognize me in my new photos – I’m a lean, mean playing machine now. I’ll send my next update as soon as Dallas can get my pictures attached!