They Just Won't Stop...

...being cute. It seems like every time we turn around Katie and Louis are doing something that requires one of us to tiptoe out of the room, grab the camera, tiptoe back into the room and hope that they haven't moved. We actually did miss the desired shot in this case. Louis had come up to Katie and crammed his body between her and the wagon. You can see he is laying on top of her front leg that has the white foot. Then Katie laid her head on top of him. Of course, she had to look up to see what we were doing, but you still get part of the scene. I am so glad that they are such good friends.

New(f) Dryer

Katie, Louis and I tried out our new K-9 III dryer for the first time yesterday. I had been wanting one of these for a year and we finally got one. (With two Newfies it became more of a "need" than a "want" :-) It's twice as powerful as our old dryer which means we should be able to dry Louie in 15-20 minutes instead of 30-40. Louie has about four times as much hair as Katie at this point.

I was giving Katie and Louis pieces of baby carrots to make sure it was a positive experience, but since this dryer is quieter than our old one they probably weren't necessary. It has two motors and you can run it with one or two. You'll notice halfway through the video I flip the second motor on the debris starts flying all around us. We actually tripped a breaker shortly after I turned the second motor on. It really requires a dedicated 20 amp circuit. Now I have figured out which outlet to plug it into next time.



Here is a link to the ebay seller we purchased our dryer from in case anyone is interested. She has the lowest price on the internet. These dryers are not cheap, but essential when you own a Newfie. Thankfully these dryers have a very long life, so we should get many years of use out of this one.

Brothers

Gary and Louis had their first conformation class tonight at the Little Rock Dog Training Club. Louis' litter mate Johnny (pictured on the left) was also in the class. Here are the two brothers resting between practice sessions. I should have gotten some pictures of them when they were nicely stacked up, but I didn't want to interrupt the class too much. They are a couple of good looking and very sweet Newf puppies.

I can't wait to see how huge Johnny's head is going to be someday when he finally grows into those ears.

What Have We Been Up to Lately?

By Louis the Newf Puppy...

We are trying to stay cool until this icky, sticky summer ends.


I am usually an angelic puppy, but I decided to steal the hair catcher out of the shower because I thought it looked like a very fun toy. After I did it three times in one day Daddy decided to let me play with it because I am so very cute and sweet.


I love my new toy, but Mama says I have to be supervised to make sure I don't eat any of it. I don't know where she gets her crazy ideas...as if I would eat my toy... it's not food Mom.


Katie and I found a new spot to lounge in that has a little more space than underneath Mom's Desk, but we can still pretend we are under something by sticking our heads under this little table.


I still sleep with my BearBo friend every night and sometimes I sneak into my kennel and pull him out to play with me and cuddle during the day.


A Couple of My Favorite Lounging Spots...
The Bathtub


& Resting on the Grooming Table Legs


Even though I turned 7 months old yesterday I can still lay in the Frog position like little puppies do.


Here's a picture of my beautiful big sis. Lately I have taken great delight in jumping on her back to assert my dominance (or at least pretend to) Mama says Katie is far too patient with me and really should teach me a lesson. But it's not my fault if sissy finds me too adorable to get mad at me.


Here we are posing for pictures and showing off our superb sit stay skills. First a serious one:


Then a goofy one:


We hope you are all having a happy end of summer. We are looking forward to Newf-friendly winter weather ourselves and hopefully at least a little bit of snow.

Toy Warning: "Pimple Ball with Bell" made by Four Paws

Beware of the "Pimple Ball with Bell" made by Four Paws. Katie and Louis thankfully have never had one of these toys. Tonight I read a horrific story of a dog who was gravely injured by this toy. Other dogs have been injured and at least one of them died. The company is currently refusing to recall this toy, but I think they will change their tune as more and more consumers become aware of this problem. We are boycotting Four Paws and hope that others will do the same until they take responsibility for the terrible tragedy that they have created. Here is the link to the site if you would like to read more about it. Warning: it is a very graphic story about a very dangerous toy.

She's Official...

After I get done reading all of the material I received in our packet today, I'm going to make some phone calls to find out where and when we can make our first therapy visit. I'm so excited about this, but also a little bit nervous since I'm not sure how people will react to such a big, drooling dog. I'm sure we will have some interesting experiences.

Time to Meditate

About a year ago I discovered that Katie likes to meditate with me. I usually meditate around the middle of each day for 30 minutes. Several times on the weekends, Katie talked Gary into letting her into the bedroom when I was meditating. She wouldn't disturb me at all, but would simply lie down on the floor beside where I was on the bed. When I would finish she would get up and go somewhere else. I started asking her "Katie, do you want to go meditate?" Now she always follows me into the bedroom and lays in this spot whenever I say that. It's strange to have a dog with the word "meditate" in their vocabulary, but doesn't she look like she's great at it? A natural Zen Master...



When little Louis first came home, he wasn't too keen on the whole meditation thing, but after a little bit of practice he now runs into his crate and almost instantly goes into a deep meditation or what some might call a puppy nap ;-) I love having the Newfs near me all the time, but it is especially nice when I'm meditating as they send out nothing but good energy.

Louis looks so cute in his crate with his poofy hair spilling out of the bars and his big butt squishing his BearBo friend.

Our Tall Katie Girl

After posting this picture I decided to change the format of our blog. It now allows me to post larger sized pictures. I didn't want to squish my tall, pretty girl into a tiny little picture box ;-)

Summer Tastes Delicious

One of the few redeeming things about summer is the fantastic organic produce we have been getting from our local community supported agriculture program every week. Each Friday seems like Christmas as I come home with bags full of beautiful, pesticide free veggies. Since we started participating in the CSA program this Spring I feel a new sense of gratitude towards my food.

We got about four pounds of tomatoes this week, so I decided to make some tomato soup (see recipe below). It was super easy to make and very tasty.


Simple Fresh Tomato Soup
(from Care2.com website)

2 cups chopped yellow onions
1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons maple syrup
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups ripe tomatoes, chopped, including their juices
2 cups organic vegetable broth
Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1 slice bread, lightly toasted, per serving

1. In a heavy-bottomed stockpot over medium heat, cook onions in 1/4 cup olive oil for around 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent.

2. Add vinegar, maple syrup, and garlic and continue to cook for 2 minutes, until garlic is fragrant and softened but not browned.

3. Add tomatoes and their juices. Simmer mixture 10 minutes, then add broth and return mixture to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Tear basil leaves in pieces and add to soup.

4.Place toasted bread, if using, in the bottoms of individual bowls. Ladle soup on top, drizzle with a little olive oil, and serve.

Dog Days of Summer

It is about a million degrees here. Katie and Louis are only getting one walk a day now early in the morning. Even at 6:00 am it's sometimes already in the low 80s...yuck! This morning it was 84 degrees with a 87 degree heat index.

During the day our Newf pups will go out even when it 100 degrees and play like crazy for a few minutes then they come back inside to plop in front on the fans and on top of the a/c vents. Gary keeps telling them that in a few months life will get better :-)

When L & K play they tend to crush our vegetation and sometimes end up wearing it. Here's a picture of Louis after one of their outside playtimes. That leaf was stuck to his head for a couple of hours.
At night to make up for their lack of an evening walk, Katie and Louis run circles around the island in the kitchen. Their crazy play makes me grateful for the nonslip mats that I put down in the kitchen before Louis joined our family. I have taught them that the kitchen and back yard are the only areas where rowdy play are allowed. I don't want to take any chances of them slipping around on the hardwood floors and getting injured.

We also do obedience training every night to burn off some more mental and physical energy. Dog school starts back up the last week of August. I think we will be spending most of our time in class right in front of one of their giant fans until at least the end of September.