Ch-ch-ch-changes!

Again, it's been a long time since I've updated. We were finally ready to add a new small dog to our crew in August, and we found the above girl on Petango. She was in a shelter in eastern WA, and an awesome rescue group got her out and met us near Seattle with her. Juna has been a great gal- she is a little spitfire! We knew from her markings that she was part cattle dog, but we also see Papillon and Rat Terrier. She has taken some time to find her place in the pack- she is the boss of everyone except Levi :) We obviously hadn't met her until she stepped out of the kennel and into our car, but she is great with the kids!
We also found a new home for our Turtle cat. Turtle is a great girl, but she and Mojo were fighting daily. A good friend who lives very close took her to "try her out" with their kids and dogs, and she is doing great! So we are down to one cat, but up to six dogs again.
All is good here. The kids are doing 4H with Tonka, Roper and Juna and Tonka and Gypsy passed their TDI tests and work as therapy dogs part time.
Tonka is also still herding- he likes to be in a big area only.
Here's a photo of Tonka herding Roper in the water. Roper is probably herding the ducks that swim here...
I will try to update again soon, but know that all is well here.

Down to a regular dozen, plus a red dog for a visit

We haven't updated for a long time.


We lost our little Chihuahua, Cocobear, in April. It was very unexpected and hard on all of us.
Things here are fine- there is some cattle dog drama, though.
Levi is aging, and Roper THINKS that means he can push the old guy around.
But he really can't.
We had the pleasure of watching Tonka's brother, Po, for a little over a week.

Po had fun running with his brother and Roper.

And he was more than a little intimidated by little Gypsy.
Tonka has started herding lessons, and he is going to be an awesome herding dog. A real partner for a change. Of course, I don't have a single decent picture of him working, but I promise to add some when I remember my camera!

Merry Christmas to all!

The whole human family got in on this one, plus Gypsy, Cocobear and Tonka.
Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and terrific 2010!

A few changes, but still a baker's dozen...

A few months ago, we helped to socialize some seven week old Aussie puppies. These guys are Fling's nephews- only four in the litter and the blue gal didn't make it. So we had these three boys- Tonka, Hoop and Po.

What a fun week we had! But we realized 8 dogs was a bit much :) The breeder decided we really needed Tonka- and he needed us. We saw him a few more times, and finally relented and brought him home in early August. He is a wonderful boy- sweet, calm, playful, smart and happy. He's almost 5 months old now and a little over 30 pounds.

We also realized our cat situation needed to change. They have never been a happy threesome, and after recovering from struvite crystals, Turtle was terrified of Diego. Diego adores people, and we found a family who had lost their beloved 18 year old kitty and wanted another sweet cat. Today Diego is on his way to his new family, and we know he will love all the one on one attention he will receive. And as a bonus, no dogs to chase him!
So our family is now five humans, six dogs and two cats- we hope it stays this way for a long while...

Petswalk and a Pony Birthday

All right, so those are not pets or ponies, but they are my very favorite rhodies that seem to only bloom for a day. They are in a shady spot and much darker usually, but I had to use the flash. Anyways, now I can see them year round. Those flowers make me happy!
Cocobear and Gypsy got to go to our local humane society walk this year, and it was SO much easier than when the bigger dogs go. The kids were able to hold their leashes, and there was no counter surfing for treats at the booths. Miss Gypsy did make a pig of herself with the biscuits on the floor, though.
We saw a lot of great dogs at the walk. This picture is for Haley- I wanted her to see the Hula Lab :) It was almost like seeing Char! Those dogs didn't even seem to mind the itchy grass skirts.
This guy with the patch was Cute Puppy of the Day (to me, at least). I thought he looked like a St. Bernard Pitbull mix, but his owner said he was an American Bulldog. His tail didn't stop wagging the whole time we saw him.
Then Leah went to a pony birthday party, where the horses wore ribbons and glitter! Maybe you can see some of the curly ribbons on the tail of this one. Leah was a little unsure about the big horse.
This one was more her size. She got to go on three rides and had a great time. She's already been invited to another pony party in two weeks. What happened to cake and noisemakers at the house?? All in all, a very fun sunny day and that's always a bonus in WA.

Just some cute pictures

I've really got a lot of cute subjects around here- first our little girl. She knows she is cute from her head...
to her toes. The girl has a LOT of shoes- these were her favorites as of two days ago. Now she's moved on to the light up jelly flip flops.
Our oldest does not like being photographed, but he will bend the "rules" when he's with his favorite dog, Cocobear. He's been working on teaching Coco to sit. Here's how he rewards him when he does a good job.
All three kids are pretty cute, at least in my opinion. And they're all way cuter when they at least look like they like each other.
This next one isn't cute at all, but I wanted to see if anyone was driven crazy by looking at Roper's eye booger :)
So if you're still reading, here's one last photo of the undeniably cutest member of our dog pack.

Green

Washington isn't called the evergreen state for nothin'. Here's Cocobear inviting you to go on our walk today at the navy base.
Coco's always pretty small, but these are some GIANT trees. The boys try to mark as many of them as they can on each walk, but it's a daunting task...
Here's the little lake Roper swims in sometimes and Levi likes to wade in at water's edge. You can even see a reflection of green. If you look really carefully you may be able to see the bench that our pal Charlotte had a minor injury on!
This last one would have been the most green picture of them all, but it's in film grain mode. You'll just have to imagine....