Libby is doing really well. She LOVES going to obedience class (at our local shelter. She watches everything intently, then beams when it’s her turn. Her eyes twinkle and her tail wags the whole time. In fact, the instructor commented aloud as Libby was strutting her stuff, “Look at Libby . . . She’s so proud of herself!” I was the proudest parent there!!

On the medical front, we haven’t been to the vet in a few weeks now . . . hooray! We do have our follow-up visit regarding the thyroid condition coming up though.

She has finally run enough! She actually just lays in the yard occasionally, taking in the sights and sounds. But she knows exactly when our playtime in the morning is. As soon as I finish with the horses and barn chores and start walking toward the house, she goes to find her ball and brings it to me!

We love her. She truly aims to please. She is a wonderful addition to our family!

Archie here. Man, has my summer been tough. A few months ago, mom takes off and comes back a few days later with this little thing; Baby, they keep calling it. Then, before my very eyes, this house gets transformed and there’s all this extra stuff around for Baby that I can’t play with. But
the worst is really how much noise this thing makes is unbelievable! I don’t even sleep upstairs anymore because I can’t stand to hear the little thing cry in the night. I mean, it takes work to look this good and be as furry and lovable as I am. Don’t mom and dad realize that I need my beauty sleep?

So, a few weeks go by and just as I’m getting settled into the new routine, another dog walks in. Mom told me he’s another NEARR dog, Luke. He’s pretty good as far as dogs go, but this house is getting small! I’m no fool, though. Luke is a lot bigger than me so I just kept to myself. I guess
Luke was only staying while his family was on vacation, b/c he left a week later. I was actually sorry to see him go; at least he had time to play during the day since mom and dad have been a bit busy with that crying bundle.

Anyway, mom’s going back to work soon and I can’t wait to have this place back to myself. Full days of uninterrupted sleep time are just what I need. I just hope that they forget to close the bedroom doors when they leave the house so that I can jump on the beds. Now THOSE naps are really great. I’m pretty careful to smooth out the bed when I leave, so I know they’re not onto me yet!

We did get in a couple of trips to the beach this summer, so here are a few of pictures from one of my adventures.

Just a quick note to tell you about my wonderful Sidney. We adopted him in September or October of 2000. He continues to be the best dog and companion we could ever have! He has tons of friends (canine and human) and a full, happy and active life.

Attached is a picture of Sidney taken this Summer. We go swimming every day at a local lake, and the lifeguards loved him so much, they made him an honorary lifeguard.

Thanks for letting us adopt this most wonderful dog!

This is Abby’s 8 month update-I can’t believe we have had her for 8 months. She is doing WONDERFUL. She’s not as skittish as she was when we first got her, is soooo much better when other people come around, she doesn’t run and hide. She greets them like she greets us, full of talk (again this is why we call her Abby Gabby =o)!! She has had a great summer up until a week ago. She has an ACL problem and is going to be operated on this week, we are waiting to hear back from our Vet on which day. We feel very bad that this had to happen to her because she can’t play or run and we know she doesn’t understand why we are not taking her out like we did every day. BUT, before this happened we were going to our house in Maine every weekend and she got to swim and play up there, trying to take every rock out of the lake and make a wall for us!!!!. I will update you all after her surgery and hopefully she will be all set come winter because I know she loves winter and can certainly play then.

Thank you NEARR for giving us Abby! We love her very much and we wouldn’t have thought we could love so much after we lost our 14 year old, Jake, and of course we found out differently.

Casey is the yellow lab in the group

What I did in my summer vacation by Casey (formerly Boston). Wow, I can hardly believe I have been in my new forever home for almost 18 months. I had much more fun this summer than I did last summer recovering from double hip surgery. In August we visited The Paw House Inn in Rutland, Vermont. Doggy heaven! Acres of trails and lots a great swimming holes. First, I just ran into the pond not knowing what to do. Then my brothers Toby and Morgan taught me how to swim! We made lots of new doggy friends. When we got home my parents bought me a new queen-sized bed to sleep in. Now I don’t have to squeeze onto the end of the bed. I do share it with them since they paid for it. Here are a couple of pictures from our vacation.

Bailey is doing so well!! He’s settled in perfectly and really seems to comfortable in his new home. We all love him too. Our son calls him “The Big Guy”. He loves to chase the kids when they play, especially when they ride their tricycles in the driveway. You can actually see the smile on his face! He and Luke, our 13 yr. old lab, are now buddies as well. Luke has had some arthritis issues with his right hip and Bailey seems to be in tune with him. Whenever we return home from the vet with Luke, Bailey gives him lots of kisses. They definitely look out for each other, which is what we had hoped.

Everyone says how lucky Bailey is to have found such a loving home, but it is we who are lucky! We couldn’t have asked for a cuter, sweeter, more lovable dog than Bailey. We understand that he had lots of medical issues prior but is now doing so well. He’s very happy and very healthy. Thank you to everyone at NEARR and especially to Bailey’s foster mom who took such great care of him!

Libby has really settled in with us now. She is more at ease and relaxed, not pacing any more. Her urinary tract infection is gone. We are still treating for the eye infection. She loves her new food. We increased the amount given because she was so thin and with all the running she’s doing, she has even lost a couple more pounds. We often wonder if she thinks about her previous family, despite the fact that she seems really happy here . . . .

On a more serious note, Steve witnessed what appeared to be a “seizure-like” incident when he arrived home from work on Thursday. It was almost exactly like what was described to us before we adopted her. She was stumbling, unable to walk, tried crawling but had no use of her rear legs and they were trembling, had a “glazed” look in her eyes, etc. Then within 2-3 minutes, she jumped up and ran off to play. The vet, of course, suspected that Libby(Tru) could have epilepsy, but the bloodwork and thyroid panel
that he did revealed that she is developing hypothyroidism, which interestingly can cause seizures and weight loss! She is now on thyroid medication. We have to go back in a month so he can recheck her.

We started obedience class on Tuesday. She was very anxious about it (another new place) and was quite vocal in a whiny sense. I think next week she’ll settle a little, having been there before. She’s doing very well with the training we do at home.

At the house she really seems content. She knows our routines/patterns and is very calm. When visitors come it’s a different story, but we’re working on that too. She loves to get in the car to go for a ride, yet she is anxious about it as soon as we start going.

She and Jessi get along SO well it’s really cute. They often lay together crossing paws or putting one’s head on the other. We’re trying to get some pictures, but every time we pull the camera out they jump up to see what we have!!