Archive for the ‘Willow’ Category
Update on Willow
Here is a note from Lisa on Willow (below) and my response (above)…
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Lisa, this is wonderful news. I know that the readers will like to know about her life. Thank you for keeping up with her and hanging in there. Rescuing isn’t easy – in fact the kind of rescuing you did with Willow is the hardest – you got her in the throws of such huge transitions – just into rescue, having pups, loosing her pups to their new families, and all those accompanying hormones! And then she had those persistent illnesses, and needed to be spayed. Really, you took on a lot. It has been really helpful to hear of your struggles during this time – I have learned a lot that I will be able to use with the next mama that needs a home. I’m still learning and I am sorry I wasn’t able to foresee all that you were taking on. Again, thank you so much for hanging in there with her. I am so pleased she is loved, cared for and may be an international dog some day!! Wow.
Keep me posted and photos would be great.
-Kristin
Hi Kristin. I love the web site. We loved seeing all of Willow’s puppies. They are absolutely adorable. Willow is doing great. She just got spayed finally a few weeks ago. Between the infections and then her going into heat, we couldn’t get her spayed until now. She has really come a long way since we got her. She has calmed down a lot and she is very loving toward me and the kids. She finally let my husband pet her in January before he left for Germany. He is coming home for a visit next week so we will see how she does with him after him being gone for so long. We are still undecided about whether we will take her with us. They really love dogs in Germany and Switzerland and they go everywhere including restaurants and stores. She is definitely not trained for that! But we will see as the day draws nearer. We will not leave until July, so we have some time. We have to figure out where we will be living and if it is suitable. Also we will have to find someone to take care of her when we come home for vacations. That may be a challenge. If we can work out the details, we will take her with us. We love her so much in spite of all her anxiety issues. It sounds from the descriptions on the web site that her puppies have all turned out well. I think the one person was right about their being bloodhound in their lineage. I have always thought that about Willow with her somewhat droopy eyes and her insistence on smelling everything persistently for long periods of time ! Thanks for checking on her. I’ll try to find some pictures to send on to you, but rest easy and know she is being very well cared for and has evolved into her role as queen of the house!
A note from Tucker
Recevied this nice not from Tucker (formerly Oak of Willow’s group):
Hope you had a wonderful holiday and a nice start to the New Year!! Mom took these pics of me last week in the snow and thought you might like to see them. My mange has cleared and I got a GIANT rawhide bone for Christmas which I am still working on in earnest today since it is soooo cold and I cannot go out and play for too long.
Hope all my brothers and sisters had a good holiday too and man am I getting spoiled here, but am learning alot, you would be proud!!
Talk to you soon and all my doggie best for the new year!!
A Sugar filled slide show
We received this update on Sugar (Sugar Maple of Willow’s litter):
Hi, Happy Holidays!
I think I finally figured out how to attach some pictures. Sugar is doing great, her mange cleared up and she was spayed a couple weeks ago. We used the animal hospital in Glendale Heights, they couldn’t have been any nicer and were only charged for her meds. She had no problems and was back to her old self the next day. Sugar has graduated out of her crate, she goes back and forth between my room and my sons room at night and wakes me up between 7 and 8 with kisses all over my face. She is really a loveable dog. She loves to be close to everyone and loves to cuddle. She does not have a mean bone in her body, my son plays crazy with her, taking her bones and bothering her when she eats and we never heard her growl. Sugar has really brought alot of joy to us. Thanks again, have a happy new year.
Donna
Here is a short slideshow of Sugar…
A day at doggie boot camp
Otis
Boarding the dogs I once fostered is an interesting thing to do. I get to see what fine specimens my little babies have grown into and I get to see what characteristics from puppyhood are still with them.
Today we are boarding Otis, formerly Willow’s puppy, Ash.
(Click on the smaller photos to see larger ones…)
 He seems to have some lab in him and some blood hound too. But look at this point! Who knows what else he's got floating around in his blood. |
 He is a little over 6 months old and he is big. I mean big. 88 pounds sort of big. |
A dog as young as Otis young who is that big had better have good manners…and, well, let’s say he is still working on it.
Hermes and Bella, my working dogs who go with me everywhere I can take them are helping me. Notice how Hermes is telling Otis, with his body who is in charge. And Bella, is telling the world (with her barking) what is happening.
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After romping in the yard and getting to know one another we took a pack walk. Otis did well and it is clear that his owners are doing a lot of things right. He walks nicely and seems to know his place relative to the walker.
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Those who know me often hear me talk about how to walk a dog correctly. I call it a “controlled walk” and here is a great photo illustrating one of my main points…I say, “pretend there is an invisible line coming out of each hip and no dog can cross in front of it.”
invisible line coming out of each hip
Tomorrow Otis leaves but not before another one of his pack mates arrives for her stay at our “doggie boot camp” – Abby, formerly Ginko will join in on the fun tomorrow morning.
Update on Birch
An update on Birch (one of Willow’s litter)!! Her family wrote me tonight to say that she had her spay surgery and it went well. She is a whopping 49 pounds!! She looks so much like her litter mates it is crazy. All the pups are really similar and also really favor their mama, Willow. Seeing this picture made me really happy. I hadn’t heard from her family in a long while and I always worry when I haven’t heard much from an adoptive family.
Deer Kisses for Juno
Here is an update on Juno (formerly Cherry of Willow’s goup), and some amazing photos…
Juno is doing great; she’s getting to be a big girl. She’s 31 lbs, as of last Friday, and growing quickly. She is outgrowing her crate, and we’ve graduated her to sleeping on a dog bed (just last night). We still keep her penned in with fences during the night, but she likes her bigger bed and she continues to be a great and quiet little sleeper.
You were quite correct in telling us that she was an active girl, because she is certainly so! She likes being outside, so she spends a good part of the day in the backyard chewing sticks, rolling large stones (which she likes to push around with her head—very cute), and digging holes. Her new favorite activity is chasing tinkerbell. She goes absolutely crazy chasing the flashlight beams—she can do that for about 90 straight minutes. When we go outside in the evening, she looks for the flashlight beam. Of course, we’ve discovered that this makes picking up her poop in the evening a bit of a challenge when she’s with us. She loves the game so much that she can spend the next half hour after we’re done playing still looking for tinkerbell. Along the same line, she also enjoys chasing shadows (and her tail).
Juno is a very smart girl; we’ve discovered that she learns tricks (and how the world works) very quickly. She is curious but very easy to train. Sometimes she gets a little nippy when she’s out of control, so we’re finding ways to calm her down or we take her out somewhere where she can run full out. We can tell that she is trying her best not to bite, but we can tell that it is so hard for her—still, she is much, much better about not nipping, and it is getting better each day. Her adult teeth are coming in, so she’s definitely in the teething stage. Her house training is pretty good; she’s using the bell at the door to let us know when she needs go out. She has an occasional accident when she is so excited that she forgets to let us know she needs to go or if she gets mad at us. We’ve adapted to both situations by taking her outside, and so far that has been a good solution.
She is a very lovable and wiggly little girl, and she has made lots of friends in the neighborhood. She’s hangs out with the neighbor’s dog fairly often, and she met a couple of other dogs in the neighborhood—all of which have extended invitations for playtime.
We took her up to a cabin in Wisconsin, and she met a fawn. The fawn is provisioned, so it hangs around on the property looking for food. We (including Juno) discovered that the deer is quite friendly, and, as you will see, is not afraid of dogs. In fact, once Juno figured out that the deer was Ok, she played with her for three days. Juno and the deer liked to play chase—mostly Juno attempted to get the deer to chase her. On the open grass, Juno very quickly discovered that the deer can run her down easily, so Juno resorted to diversion tactics—running around bushes, under chairs, around us, etc. Every morning, Juno would go out and look for her deer buddy. I’ve enclosed a couple pictures, and I will be sending you a CD with pictures and movies.
-S
Time for a Tucker update
Here is the latest from Tucker (formerly Oak of Willow’s litter):
Tucker at 3 months
All is well here and Tucker is growing like a weed!! Dr. again this Friday, but at 3 months already 32 pounds!! He is a delight! We are moving along on potty training and I am hoping another month and he will have it knocked. Tucker and Montana are fast friends and as much as she hates all the tugging, pulling, wrestling and biting….she would have it no other way. I have attached some pics for your viewing pleasure! Tucker is smart…he knows sit, shake and sit up…we are working on lay down and down in general and of course he is ALL TOO familiar with NO. Plenty of bones and toys to chew on so no major chewing episodes, knock on wood.
Hope all is well with you and all his brothers and sisters are doing well including Willow!!
An update on Rubi
Here is an update with photos on Rubi (formerly known as Red from Willow’s litter)
Rubi is doing really great. We started puppy classes a couple weeks ago so she can get over her apprehension of dogs. She did surprisingly well and we hope it keeps improving. Her nipping is our biggest issue now. We are trying time-outs, but that doesn’t always work. Other than that, she has all her commands down most of the time and we’re just practicing them with distractions. She loves to cuddle and loves to play with her soft toys. Here’s a few pictures at 13 weeks.
-E- & D-
