December 16, 2004

Puppy Paris is now almost 11 months old so she really is not a puppy anymore. Or is she? She hasn't slowed down much and she still chews everything up. She still jumps all over Madison and steals her bed and her bones.

She has been in training to become a nicer little lady though. She has finished Puppy Manners One and will start Puppy Manners Two in January. She likes to perform and she has learned a number of tricks, like "speak, high five, roll over, crawl, beg, and play dead." Eventually I want to steer her into agility classes. The way she glides through the air like a gazel, this has got to be her calling.

Weighing in at only 38 pounds, she is beginning to look like she is always going to be a little girl. That may not be such a bad thing, we are just used to bigger dogs, like Madison and Chelsea. With her being smaller I can still gather her up into my lap to hug her and I do like that!

July 21, 2004

Goodness, it's been a long time since I have updated this puppy page. Two months! Paris is of course much bigger and much more interactive with us. Leaving her in the kennel for almost two weeks while we ran off to Nevada and Utah showed us how much she can grow in a short period of time. She was definitely bigger when we picked both her and Madison up from the kennel last week.

When we arrived, of course Madison came dashing out to greet us when their pen was opened. No sign of Paris. The kennel caretaker couldn't get her to come out.

Finally Paris peeked her little dark head out in fear. She had no idea who we were. Robert walked down to her pen and let her smell him. Then she knew! We are sure she thought she would never see us again, that Bonnie Doone Kennel was her new home. She came racing out in glee. She jumped, whined and barked all the way home.

The kennel got quite a kick out of the little cat bed we sent along with Paris. They couldn't believe how she actually curled up inside it to keep warm on cold days. They were sure she was too big to fit.

Paris has figured out the whole "go to the park in the morning" routine and can hardly stand it when I tell her she can't get up at 6:00 in the morning, that she must let us sleep until at least 6:45. She lays in her crate emitting low, actually very quiet, whines of protest every couple minutes until we finally get up to head for the park. This past week she graduated to the feeding station for her meals. She knows she is not supposed to be on the sofa but has found Robert lenient enough to let her at least put most of her body on the sofa when she wants to cuddle up for a nap near him.

Pictures

May 21, 2004

We have reached the phase with Paris wherein we do not have to pay as close attention to her. She is adapting to her surroundings and learning where she can go and what she can and can not have. She doesn't put as much stuff in her mouth having figured out what is icky. Although she does slip and chase the chickens occasionally, she now explores the field and behind the barn on her own or with Madison.

Recently she discovered she is tall enough to climb up on the window seat. There are pillows to jump on; birds, people and cars to watch outside the window. Of course it won't be long before Madison teaches her how to bark at passing people.

She loves her puppy class (she has had three now). It's a wonderful opportunity for her to play with five other puppies. Between playtimes she is learning " sit," down," what "leave it" means, how to "stay." and most importantly, "come."

Next week we will be taking her to Alston Park for the very first time. Wait until she sees how much space she will have to run in!

Pictures

May 1, 2004

Paris has decided that Madison is her buddy and now plays with her more than she plays with us. Thank you Madison for taking care of her and wearing her out.

She really likes to sleep with or near Madison (Madison is so tolerant) and I am thinking it's because she doesn't get to jump into Robert's lap anytime she wants anymore. She is also close to being too big to be a lap dog anyway.

This week we have been opening up the gate into the office for her and of course she feels like big dog being allowed to come in while we work. With the warm weather she has been able to run in and out of the house at free will. She hasn't had an accident in over a week and a half now! That makes her more trustworthy therefore winning her office privileges.

Monday Paris will be starting her six week puppy class. Wait till her teacher finds out much she already knows! Of course the most important reason for going to puppy class is for her to learn to socialize with dogs other than Madison.

Pictures

April 25, 2004

Paris is now big enough to leap in one bound right onto the sofa. Once on the sofa she jumps to the coffee table and grabs coasters and magazines. Last night she jumped from the sofa into our huge weeping willow digging up the moss in the pot and throwing it all over the sofa. Robert now realizes the error of his ways, he now understands he must no longer let her on his lap when he is sitting on the sofa, something he has been doing from the start. He now knows it's important for her to know the sofa is off limits. "She's so cute though." he tells me.

As a trade off, I gave Paris the blue rocking chair to sit and sleep in. Now Robert sits there with her when, as big as she is, she insists on curling up in his lap.

Paris is showing Chelsea traits. She likes to paw at her bowl of water in the kitchen when it is empty. Even when it's not. She is jumping all over the bushes along the pool and consequently ruining them just as Chelsea did. She likes to look you straight in the eye and try to understand everything you say to her. She likes to grab at our pants legs when we are out in the field.

Last Thursday we graduated Paris to her full crate (Madison sized). She was chewing up the box from the IIGS which we were using as a space filler, and consequently the packing foam inside the box as well. We decided to just take out all the boxes that were serving as space fillers to make her crate area smaller. The idea (from Kim) was to keep the area small so she wouldn't potty in her crate. The boxes worked great in the beginning. Now we don't think it is really a concern anymore. She loves her crate. Before it was only okay and she had gone in it a few times when she was really, really tired. Now she goes in to sleep several times a day. She likes being able to sprawl all out—she sleeps flat with straight legs just like Madison.

Pictures!

April 17, 2004

Paris is becoming a regular dog. She is so into the routine of our household. She is learning quickly what she is supposed to do and what she is not allowed to do. She has pretty much stopped chasing the chickens. When told, she understands "off" about fifty percent of the time.

Madison now believes that Paris is a good thing and has succeeded in teaching her how to play tug of war, how to forage the deep forest behind the barn, and has shown her the ropes on how to run circles around and around the sofa and the garden. Unfortunately Madison is also teaching her to chase Sofie Cat.

Paris now knows "sit" really well and thanks to Kim she understands "down" most of the time. She would know "come" too except Robert and I have not been taking time to teach her that yet. Yes, I know this is the most important command a dog should learn. What she knows instead, if she has something icky she has picked up in the garden, is to run like crazy if Mom or Dad say "Drop it." and for heaven's sake do not go to either of them if they say "Come here Paris."

Pictures!

April 9, 2004

Ten weeks old! We can see her growing right before our eyes. She has gained four pounds. I have started an animated growth series to compare how much she grows from week to week.

She has discovered the chickens and today Robert spent a good ten minutes trying to catch her as she ran through the privets chasing the chickens. Once she gets in between the privet trunks and branches she is impossible to grab.

Since she now sleeps until 7:15 (thanks to daylight savings time) we have returned to our park walks. She gets to run around the bedroom while we get ready then goes back into the crate until we come back from the park to feed her and Madison their breakfast. She is so good, she has no bones about going back into her crate.

Having proven to be trustworthy for the most part (only one living room rug accident so far) as of last Monday she now spends evenings with us in the living room enjoying free run privileges. From time to time she will stop her wild playing, sit and watch TV with us.

Madison is really getting into playing with Paris. Tonight she convinced her to run around the sofa with her. Now she is trying to teach her to play tug of war. So far all Paris has figured out is to bark and bark at Madison when Madison picks up and wildly shakes a stuffed toy. Madison is definitely becoming more lively with a new little one around.

Pictures!

April 2, 2004

What a week we have had. Living with a puppy is definitely different. We have to watch where we step because Paris is so little. We get up early, like 5:30 or 6:00, because that's when she is ready to go out to do her business. Happy to say, she has slept through every night except the first one when she wanted to get up at three. She has been extremely great about sleeping in her crate. When she does protest, her whining and crying is minimal.

Saturday she was allowed to walk by the pool on her own. She totally gets it is to be circumvented.

By Sunday she knew her name.

She definitely knows her way to the field which she absolutely loves. She runs and runs and runs and digs and sniffs and eats everything. We haven't yet had to put her on a lead out in the field. She keeps track of where we are and circles back to us even though she is nuts about having such a big place to explore.

She totally understands what it means when Robert goes to the refrigerator to take out special-for-her cottage cheese (recommended by the kennel) for her breakfast and dinner.

She loves running Kamakazi through the boxwood rustling all the dead leaves on the ground.

She is winning Madison over and has figured out jumping on her doesn't work to get attention. (Madison obliviously has her in training.) She has learned barking and barking at Madison is the best way to get her to play. She loves to follow her around the yard, the field and behind the barn.

She is learning very quickly that kisses are more acceptable than bites.

Not only is she bright, she is very confident. When we took her to Petco to buy her some puppy bones, she just marched and pranced around the entire store melting everyone's heart.

We are having so much fun—watching her, holding her and loving her.

Pictures!

March 26, 2004

Say hello to Paris (aka Monica). We are pleased to announce the little girl puppy we wanted the most is the one we brought home today! She is bouncy, inquisitive, playful and now sleeping soundly in her crate after a long day. After picking her up at 11:30 we brought her home to meet Madison and eat lunch then we were off to Benicia for her to meet Grandma and Kim. In the short time we have had her she has pottied at least a dozen times and has eaten two bowls of puppy food. Of course we have lots of pictures! View Photos

March 24, 2004

Last Friday “It's About Time Kennels” posted conformation pictures of all the puppies—Click here to go to the link to see all the girls at 7 weeks.

March 14, 2004

The puppies are six weeks old now and the kennel has begun "basic training" with them for field work. In the pictures below there is a chuckar in a bird sock. As you can see from this newest set of pictures, the puppies are enjoying their first encounter with a bird. All the close-ups the kennel took were mostly of the girls! What does that say?

March 8, 2004

Pictures below from the kennel show Rosa, Clara and Monica at five weeks old. They are definitely growing! Looks like they are getting their first "show" lessons.

Monica

Clara

Rosa

February 27, 2004

Today we drove up to to say hello to all the little puppies and to visit with Sandy and Edna who own IAT Kennels. Kim came along too! The puppies are soooo cute! Take a look at pictures we took this afternoon and video too!

February 19, 2004

The little girl puppies are now three weeks old. Something is different! There is now one less girl. A case of mistaken identity? Maria is now Miguel (a boy puppy) so no longer on our puppy page. We are only interested in showing the girls since a little girl is what we want. As you can see from these newest pictures, they are getting little spots and more coloring, especially on their legs.

February 8, 2004

On February 5th, after a visit to the Cow Palace dog show last weekend, we put a deposit on a German Short Hair puppy born January 31, 2004. If all goes well, we will soon be proud guardians of one of the little girls shown below. Pictures were taken last week.

Each puppy has been given a temporary name by the kennel. Like Dalmatians, they do not have their little spots yet thus we have no idea how each one will turn out.
www.iatkennels.com