And Then There Were 5

Sorry I haven't gotten to posting an update in awhile.

It has been a busy 10 days or so.  The first three pups have gone home...Gunner, Calpurnia (now Nola!), and Jake.

I was asked if we would be keeping the blog going after all of the pups have gone home.  We have met so many wonderful folks through this process and I know if we had one big party you all would all get along famously.

So if anyone has updates, ideas, advice on what is working for your pup, please reply in the comment section of these posts or if you email them to me, I'd be happy to post them here.

Gunner was the first to go home.  He has permanently been renamed Panzer (after the Panzer tank) is now living in South Carolina with the Moore family.  This is what they had to say about their transition.

Though I we liked the name Gunner, my husband renamed him Panzer.  He is truly a wonderful dog.  To my delight he is almost housebroken.  He is all that Greg said he would be, from being loads of fun to being really smart.  He actually pointed today and caught his first bird!  He also obeys several commands, which truly reflects all the hard work that you did ahead of Greg bringing him to us. Please know that he is well loved and cared for and adjusting well to being away from his family.  

Calpurnia, now named Nola went home next.  She is living up on the beautiful Eastern Shore in Maryland with the Boettger family.  She has a new best friend, a German Wirehaired Pointer named Emma.  Here is a bit of what Mr. Ted had to say about how Nola is doing:

Greetings from the Eastern Shore and the home of a very happy pup  Nola! She is great and has adapted to life here soooo well and quickly.  She and Emma are best friends.  Emma still has so much puppy in her and both dogs come to work with us and nola is learning to anticipate seeing her every morning.  We are still in the fun stage of training but she is already doing well.  So smart and I don't think she forgets anything.

Jake (previously Harris), the last pup to be sold, went home next.  He is just right around the corner from our home and we are so excited to be able to see him grow up.  He has a new "sister" named Lily and from what Jake's new mama has said, the two of them seem to be getting along famously.  She said that after they left our house with Jake, they were going to drive around the neighborhood a few times so that he didn't know how close he really was to his previous home...so cute!  We are giving them a few weeks to establish their new "pack" and then we look forward to seeing Jake often for playdates.

Today Archer goes home with Rachel and Cory.  Archer, being the big boy, has been such an easy dog to have, we are surely going to miss him.  But so happy for his new family to see what a great dog he has grown into.

And then we'll be down to 4...

We continue to walk the puppies at the beach in in the fields.  They can all "sit" on command now.  Yay!

I feel I have to apologize to you all though.  The boys (and Scout) taught the puppies how to dig holes in the sand.  I hope this skill doesn't translate to your backyards...ha!

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On a business note, if anyone has any problems registering their pup with the AKC, please let me know and I will be happy to help.  Also, if you need any information on crate training, etc please let me know and I will be happy to share with you what we will be using for Mabel.

In the Field

We've been taking Scout and the puppies on long (long for the pups) walks in a field near our house.  It has been really good for them, and for Scout.  They are doing a great job of staying with us so far.

 Kai in the red collar

Archer "attackling"Wyatt in the tall grass

Jake, yes Harris has his new name...Jake!  And Jake gets the little hunter award.  He chased that little duck all over that field.  We're feeling so lucky we get to see this little dude grow up just around the corner from our house.  Yay!

Archer and Kai

Jem, Archer, Kai and Jake

Scout with her nose in the grass

Jem and Miss Maudie Mae following mama

Scout...head down tail up

Ian running with Jem...she has incredible stamina for 7-8 weeks!

One of the little games we've been playing with the pups is to tie one of their toys, in this case one of their ducks, to a pole with a line.  Like a fishing pole.  You can either drag the toy and let them chase it or you can plant it right in front of them and let them stalk and point the toy.  Just as they get close to the toy you pull it up and replant it.  Think something along the lines of "keep away".They love this game!  Its a great game to play in the field or even in the backyard.

Archer and Jem

 Maudie Mae on point

Valor on point

Pretty, pretty Valor...she has such an elegant look to her

Archer following the duck

Maudie Mae trying to sneak a snack

Jake and Archer

Archer

follow the leader

A very pretty profile of Jem and Maudie Mae

Jem with ears flying

 Energetic Jem

Not sure who is in front, I think its Jake and Kai

Most of the time this is all we saw...little tails sticking up out of the tall grass.  Some of them chose to tunnel their way though, but others jumped through it like rabbits.

A beautiful shot of Valor jumping through the grass

Wyatt and Jem

Archer and Ian

 Jem and Kai

Wyatt with Kai and Jem

Kai

Zane and Archer

Miss Maudie Mae

Harris has been sold!  And has been renamed Jake!  Love that name.

At this point in the pups' training we're just doing a lot of walking and encouraging them to follow.  They do a great job for the most part.  But even if a few get left behind, we find a safe distance where they can see and hear us and we wait for them to realize they are alone.  Then we call them and they come running!

Valor with a victory over her bigger brother Jake

Again, we've been so blessed with great weather to have the puppies out and about.  And this is the happy result of such an outing...happy sleepy pups!

We feel very thankful this year to have been able to raise such wonderful pups and to experience this as a family.  We have met some really great families in the process and so happy to know all of you.  Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.