Happy Thanksgiving to all from Boomer. I continue to be a very good obedient boy and am getting lots of exercise with my brother’s skipper, buddy and mom and dad. I had a bit of a bug a couple of weeks ago and just laid around without even eating. I had a Lyme test which was negative and a thyroid test because I had a low test in my history, but that came out perfect too. I learned the little lumps under my arms are just fatty blobs not lymph nodes. Dr. Joan thinks I was fooling because after scaring my parents by not getting off my new pillow for a day I got up and ran to Dr. Joan’s SUV to welcome her. I’m all excited about Christmas on the Cape and having a tree right in the house! I’m having lots of fun, meeting all my new aunts uncles and cousins and making lots of new doggie friends. I’m seeing lots of neat things in safe places where doggies are welcomed. This is a great place to enjoy retirement with mom and dad. I feel like a kid again. Thank you NEARR.

Prince is doing just great and in some odd way, I swear he knows he is now here for good.
He’s been particularly affectionate & playful over the last few days. We’re excited that Prince is in his forever home!

Chance is doing well and continues to impress us and his vet with his health for his age. We did have a scare over Labor Day weekend. Chance apparently has some sort of vestibular disease which affects his balance. We had noticed that his balance was a little off for a couple days (nothing major, just stumbled a couple times which was out of character), then suddenly woke up in the morning unable to keep his balance to walk or stand. It was really bad for about 72 hrs, but then started to show slight signs of improvement. He improved over the next two weeks and now shows only the signs of stumbling occasionally or losing his balance. We are told that the episodes will likely become more frequent and more severe, but he is yet to have a relapse. The only other lasting symptoms are that he can’t climb more than 2-3 stairs so we carry him upstairs at night and down in the morning. He is so great with the kids—even the babies—he stays by their cribs if they are sleeping and needs to know where all 3 kids are at all times. Thank you again for all you do and for entrusting this wonderful dog to our family—we LOVE him!

Cole has almost completed his obedience training. He’s gotten very good at sit-stay and down-stay, watch-me and leave-it. We’re practicing “come”, this week. We are generally trying to have Cole earn every treat, meal and walk and practicing taking a more dominant role toward Cole. Our instructor at obedience school thinks that that will help Cole with his dog issues and some territorial behavior. It’s taking a little getting used to, but I think it’s good for everyone. The friends we saw at Halloween complimented me on how calm and happy Cole seems.

This week, Cole and I went to the beach. He chased seagulls and waded in the water. There are very few people or dogs on the beach and lots of room, so he can be off leash. He’s very good about staying close to me. For Halloween, Cole dressed as a fairy (see the photo, attached). He loved wearing his wings on our walk – a lot of humans complimented him on them. One of our neighbors had bought a special dog cookie for him, so at the end of our walk we went to trick-or-treat at her house. He absolutely loved it. Cole enjoyed having children come to our door, but he had to wear his leash so that he wouldn’t scare them in his exuberance. Greeting guests more calmly is something that we’ll work on in the next few weeks.

We are really happy having Cole in our life. He’s a really wonderful addition to our family.