Here are some pictures of Angie and Woodford from over the last year. We did a lot of traveling last year. Last summer, we all drove out west - they had so much fun. A dog beach in Chicago, a dog park with mountain scenery in Colorado, walking the Mall in DC (Woodford pictured with Lincoln), and lots of smells for Woodford everywhere. Woodford, in particular, loves to travel! And we love having them with us.

We welcomed a baby girl in December, and Angie and Woodford are her best friends. They love to crowd around her feeding chair. Needless to say, we are keeping an eye on their weight! I think Angie might be a little jealous of the baby, but the good thing is that I’m home with them almost all the time. No more long work days for them. They are simply amazing with the baby - we feel very fortunate about that.

We celebrated Angie’s 9th and Woodford’s 10th Birthdays at the beach this year. Unfortunately, they are showing signs of aging, particularly arthritis. We are trying to manage it for both of them with supplements and medicine. It’s tough. But they both love to get out for walks to sniff around and Woodford has some favorite dogs that he likes to visit in the neighborhood.

Thanks again for all that NEARR does! We love Angie and Woodford so much.

Hi everyone,

It’s hard to believe that Mort’s been with us for an entire year. We adopted him during the “big flood” last October, and it must have been a predictor that he would love water as much as he does. He continues to swim in the lake, either at home or away, whenever he gets a chance. He has no known limit to cold water….he’ll swim and drag very big sticks for hours. As you can see in the attached pictures, “Fetch the Stick” is “Fetch the Log” in our family.

Mort has really settled in with our family and friends. He has calmed down alot on his walks, thanks to a “Gentle Leader”, but still gets excited when he encounters another dog on a leash. I think this is something we’ll be working on for quite awhile. We continue to walk 3 miles per day, which he really looks forward to.

If he’s loose with other dogs, though, they become best friends and will play and swim together. He’s just one of the gang, now, and comes everywhere with us. People look forward to seeing him at soccer games and cross-country meets, and he has gotten better about trying to chase the soccer ball or follow the cross country team. If he wasn’t on a leash, he’d probably be a great team mascot!

He and Heidi the Dachshund are old friends, now, and the cats even tolerate him . We recently adopted a rabbit which we keep in a hutch. He doesn’t bark at it…only sniffs it once in a while. He is truly a “gentle giant”, who thinks he’s a lap dog and won’t hesitate to curl his 95 pound body on our laps.

Ellie has fit right in with us and our lifestyle.

She goes just about everywhere we go and she is patient and polite with everyone she meets, and she’s met a lot of people! We’re very happy to inform people how we acquired her.

Ellie is getting along much better with the cats. She wants to play with them still, going so far as to roll a ball towards them, but they aren’t interested yet. We trust her completely not to bother or provoke them. She is so sweet towards them, even when she gets the occasional hiss; she just turns her head and walks away.

She is still on a diet and walks at least 3 times a day and socializes with other dogs. She has learned that chasing balls is quite fun. She’s good at letting us know what her exercise limitations are.

The basic manners class starts on Tuesday. She is going to pass with flying colors!

We’re very happy to have Ellie in our lives!