Pre-Puppy Breath :)

Well, Franna and I made the trek up to our Labrador breeder's house on Saturday night for dinner. Actually Saturday was the first time in a week where I took my 'Burb out of four wheel drive, but that is another story. So, back to this story, the Ribeye's were marvelous, as was the pumpkin soup, mashed yams, sliced beets with Italian dressing on them, rolls, wine and great dinner company. Most of the rest of our time there was spent playing with the new puppies :) They are now a little over three weeks old, their eyes are open, and they are starting to play with each other and recognize people. Seeing them, and watching and interacting with them has certainly complicated things for me as right at this moment I would be okay with any of the five girls :) We will wait and see how they are when they are a little older. 49 days is supposed to be the ideal time to test temperment as it is the time when the puppy is transitioning from being bonded to mom to being bonded to people... Decisions, decisions, decisions... :)

-Dave

Long live the Queen !!!

Many thanks for all of the nice comments that were made to Franna's blog about my German Shepherd, Lonie. And as last weekend was a reminder of the mortality that is associated with life, this weekend just completed was a reminder to me of the joy that is associated with a new birth. Thom and Villa's breeder has a female dog named Tripper (not too related to Thom or Villa) who I just think is the "cat's meow". And for some reason, Tripper thinks I am pretty okay too. In fact, her owner always teases about us having a thing for each other.
Tripper was bred last fall to "Mr Right" and on Saturday whelped 9 puppys, 2 black females, 3 yellow females and (I think) 2 each black and yellow boys. I have made my intentions known about wanting a Tripper (girl) puppy for at least a year, and now they are on the ground !!! I received a photo of them at a few hours old. I think that the ideal spacing between dogs is about five (5) years. Thom is coming up on four (4) next week, so it IS a little bit soon. And the planets and stars still need to line up and I could still pass, but the possibility that my next dog is here IS pretty exciting... So stay tuned and sometime between now and the end of January you'll all know what I decide to do... Names for this litter will start with "W". I like Winsome Winnifred and Wicked Wanda so far, anyone have any other suggestions ???

-Dave