And Then There Were 4

Happy 2013!  I know I've been MIA here lately.  I meant to blog every day of my end-of-year time off, but somehow that just didn't happen.  You'll understand why...

 

You see, we took a small road trip on Friday, December 21, 2012.  We were hopeful that Keystone would not be the only furry ones returning on that trip, and thankfully our plan worked out.  We have added two golden puppies to our zoo! 

His sister snuggling on his tummy for nap time

 

These pups are brother and sister from the same litter and are so lucky to be able to spend the rest of their lives together!  We are so happy that we found a "normal" breeder who wasn't a total freak.  By that I mean that he didn't ask such a high price that we needed to take out a loan, and he didn't interrogate us on some kind of application asking for yearly income, what our intentions are for the dog, how long we intend to keep it, etc.  Seriously, there are some freaks out there.  We found the perfect "normal" breeder.

 

When we got there, we had a very difficult time choosing our two pups.  Todd is the "dog whisperer", so I fully trust his opinion.  After all, he chose Amber!  Since there were only 2 females, we checked each one over and played with them.  Our little girl had her new daddy smitten within a few minutes.  That decision was not so difficult, even though the other female was a beauty as well.  Then we started analyzing the males.  It was between the two big guys.  One was very dark red, and one was lighter like the girl.  We went back & forth and back & forth.  The breeder was probably secretly tired of how long we were taking, but we didn't care because this was a life changing decision!  Just when we settled on the lighter guy, I said that if I had to choose, I want the darker one.  He's very rambunctious, feisty and full of spirit.  He has turned out to be the perfect choice!

 

The breeder had a point--there was no bad decision, the entire litter is awesome.  I hope they all found wonderful, loving, nurturing homes to have long, healthy, and happy lives.  Anyway, after we chose our two, we looked at the parents.  They are amazing looking dogs.  Exactly what we were wanting.

 

Here's the dad:

 

Gunner, the dad

And here is the mom:

 

KC, the mom

Our pups were born on Tuesday, November 6, 2012.  There were 9 puppies in the litter.

 

Keystone now has two young siblings.  He didn't quite know what to think about it at first, but it did not even take a week before he started playing with them.  At first, he did not know how to interact with the pups and he would run from them.  After all, their main purpose in life right now is to chew and scratch.  Then once Keystone decided to play, the pups did not know how to interact with him bowing down with his tail high in the sky wagging widely as he pushed his nose towards them; and they would run from him.  They are getting along very well.  Videos will be posted soon, but not right now.

 

We decided the first name for the little girl is Jesse, and middle name James.  It fits her to a T, because she is a wild rebel.  We are still debating on the name for the little boy.  It takes time to find the right name to match their personalities and will fit them once full grown.  I will announce his name once we have decided (until then, suffer!!!).

We have been in love with them since about the 2nd day we've had them.  I admit, the first night was pretty darn rough.  Puppies.  Ugghhhhh. puppies.  They are in somewhat of a routine now, but damn, they are exhausting.  Everyone thinks it's all roses, wine and chocolates right now.  Those are the people who have never raised a puppy.  Let me tell you, if I could skip the puppy phase and get to the young-adult, trained, mannered phase, I would...  but we have to pay our dues.  And they are just so cute, there is a reason God made them so cute.  So they could survive to become an adult.  That's all I got to say.

Now for some pics.

 

LOOK at those mitts on this little boy.  I picked a big'un, on purpose!

My sweet, precious Jesse on her ride home.
She looks all sweet and innocent, no?
Look guys, we named her after an outlaw FOR A REASON!

Our cute little ham of a man on his ride home.
He loves snuggling and discovered that Keystone is a very warm spot to snuggle.

A close up of Jesse on her ride home.
Ummm, "mom" or whatever you call yourself, what's this moving vehicle I'm in right now?

A close up of our little boy (and me) on the ride home.
Keystone did really well sharing his seat with me and the pups in the back!

Our little boy LOVES snow, and leaves/grasses

Jesse loves running through the snow and grass/weeds!
 

Our pups warming up by the fire after a walk outside

 

Jesse (on the left) is often seen sleeping spread-eagle, tummy pointed to the sky.
As a matter of fact, these two are caught sleeping MUCH of the time!

Shadow wants to wish you a happy 2013!

 

And we also want to wish you a happy 2013!