During a recent trip to Lake Bennett in Woolly Hollow State Park we discovered that Katie and Louie are real water dogs. Newfoundland dogs are known for their love of water and have a history of water work including saving drowning victims. Katie and Louie had been in the water a couple of times before and didn't seem to be overly excited about it.
Louie's only time to get to retrieve the dumbbell. Katie got it the other 49 times we threw it.
This time though something just clicked and suddenly Katie, a Newf girl who doesn't even like to fetch, was begging us over and over to throw the dumbbell for her to retrieve. If we didn't throw it quickly enough she would start to whine. If we hesitated further we were treated to some very loud and indignant Newfie barks. I think it was the most enthusiasm I've ever seen from her.
Then, like a true Newfoundland hero dog, Louie came to Gary's rescue three times when he was "drowning". Gary decided to go into the lake by himself and told me he was going to pretend like he was having problems just to see what the dogs would do. As you will see in the following video, Louie's water rescue instincts kicked right in without any prior water training. It was absolutely amazing to see how Louie, without hesitation, got to his Daddy as fast as he could and then allowed Gary to gently hold onto his sides as he pulled him into the shore. Once their feet could touch bottom Louie turned to Gary as if to reassure himself that his Daddy was ok and gave Gary sweet kisses.
These dogs never cease to amaze us with their intelligence, loyalty, bravery and sweetness. We are extremely blessed to have them as friends and part of our family.
Katie was completely enamored of her floating dumbbell toy.
Even out of the water she didn't want to let it out of her sight.
Did you miss us? Mama wouldn't stop going on and on about that stupid vacation. I think vacations stink because they take Mama and Daddy far from me and Louie. In honor of getting back to Newfieness on this blog I want to share a video with you all that has become very popular on YouTube. So far it's had over 50,000 views. In this video I am just a pup at about a year and a half old. Little Louie is only about 5 months old. I think this video shows how much I love and care about my Daddy. xoxoxo, Katie
Every time Gary goes to the diving board Katie performs a ritual of walking in front of him across the diving board before he jumps. She seems to be trying to persuade him not to do it. After each dive she runs to make sure her Daddy is ok. I wonder if he started drowning if she would jump in? My guess is YES.
Yesterday Mom and Dad took me and Katie swimming. I hadn't even been in the water since I was a baby pup last summer, but I'm a Newf so I just jumped right in a started swimming. Dad said I am a natural in the water. My sis, Katie, though was pretty nervous about the whole swimming thing. She was brave at first; she went in without hesitating, but then instead of swimming a modified breaststroke like a normal Newf she acted like she was trying to high step her way through the water. Mom put the dog lifejacket on her and she calmed right down. Before long I started getting hot, so Mom and Dad took us home with the air conditioner in the car cranked all the way up.
Once we got home Mom and Dad spent a couple of hours bathing and drying me and Katie. Even though I'm a boy I don't mind getting a bath...gotta stay handsome for the ladies you know ;-)
Every time Gary goes to the diving board Katie performs a ritual of walking in front of him across the diving board before he jumps. She seems to be trying to persuade him not to do it. After each dive she runs to make sure her Daddy is ok. I wonder if he started drowning if she would jump in? My guess is YES.
Yesterday we had our first Newfie playdate as a family of four. We drove to Lake Dardanelle to meet Ellen & Chuck along with their two Newfies, Bucca & Corena (who are three year old litter mates). We introduced the four Newfs in the backyard with all of them on leashes. I was being cautious and protective over Louis because he is so much smaller than everyone else, but everyone got along perfectly. Bucca and Corena were incredibly sweet and gracious hosts and accepted Katie and Louis immediately.
Soon Louis and Katie were off exploring the big fenced in yard. Louis, our water obsessed boy, quickly found a big tub of water that he stuck his head into followed by his front legs :-). Katie decided to check out Ellen's beautiful flowers. All eight of us went into the house to cool off. It was fun to see the four Newfs all hanging out inside together. Katie made herself right at home by crawling under a very low coffee table. Ellen and Chuck said their Newfs had never done that and were concerned about how she was going to manage to get out. They didn't know that Katie is famous for squeezing her body into all kinds of tight spaces and gets out the same way she got in. It is amazing how she can crawl so low to the ground. Agility tunnels would be a breeze for her.
Here is what it looks like to have four Newfs in your kitchen :-) From left to right: Louis, Katie, Bucca and Corena
Corena, was hanging in the background in the above photo, so here is a close up of her. She is a super sweetie which you can easily see in her gentle face.
This is what it looks like to have four HUNGRY Newfs in your kitchen
The humans had a fabulous lunch of gazpacho and salad with smoked salmon. Ellen and Chuck were so kind to make delicious vegetarian food to meet my dietary restrictions. Ellen is going to give me the recipe later and I will post it here because it was divine.
After lunch we went outside to take a few photos of the dogs before their swim.
Bucca and Katie take turns shaking hands. Chuck has trained his Newfs to shake with their right hands like humans do, but Gary trained Katie to shake with her special white foot which happens to be her left one.
Katie waits expectantly to see if anymore treats might be available.
Chuck says "Look my hands are empty". While the boys give him their best pitiful looks. I'm sure Katie, who's face is away from the camera would win the award for looking the most pitiful since she is the most food motivated dog I know.
Time for a little bit of frolicking....right before the camera started rolling Katie was playing with Louis. Our new Newf friends, Bucca and Corena, seemed to think Katie was getting too rough with her little brother and they jumped up simultaneously to his rescue. They had to give him a sniff to make sure he was ok and wagged their tails approvingly.
Most of the time at home Louis is the one to jump on top of Katie. She will just roll on her back and let him chew on her. But yesterday Katie was acting like a teenage sister who wants to pick on baby brother a bit (I think she was trying to show off for her new friends) and Bucca & Corena decided to take on the role of mom and dad. Ellen said they hadn't really been around puppies, but the two them instinctively knew that Louis was a youngster that needed to be watched and protected. It was very sweet to see...Bucca especially would check on Louis every time he barked. Bucca even let Louis play with some of his stuffies.
Katie, by far the most energetic of the four Newfs, gets a sudden burst of the crazies and runs toward the camera...ears and tongue flailing.
After all of the romping in the hot sun we all headed down to the lake to cool off. Louis wore his life jacket so that his waterlogged puppy fur wouldn't pull him under. Contrary to the fact that he is our water obsessed child, he didn't seem to care much for swimming. I think he wasn't fond of the life jacket, but there was no way he could swim without it. Once his adult coat comes in I predict Louis will love swimming.
Corena, Katie and Louis (the pouty one :-)
Katie was the one who really surprised us. She had been swimming a few times but had never ventured into water deeper than her shoulders of her own free will. We were beginning to wonder if she would ever enjoy the water, but she saw Bucca swim out and decided that swimming looked like fun. Once Katie started swimming Gary said she seemed to think she wanted to swim across the lake...thankfully she was on lead. At first she barely used her back legs, but after a few laps she became very relaxed in the water. Having Bucca there was such an inspiration to her. He is a very strong swimmer and obviously enjoys the water.
Here our New(f) friend, Bucca, shows Katie and Louis how to retrieve a bumper.
Our first playdate was so much fun for the Newfies and the humans. Many thanks to our gracious hosts and hostesses :-)
This afternoon we decided to try a water training tip from Nanook and Pooka's Blog. We threw a bunch of hot dog pieces into the kiddie pool so that Katie and Louis could get used to putting their faces under water. All four of us had a great time.
Part 1 In part one I am holding the pieces just under the water to get them used to the idea.
Part 2 They are starting to stick their faces completely under the water now.
Part 3 Now Katie is really getting the idea of diving for hot dogs.
Part 4 Last one...check out Louis' hair do when he turns toward the camera. It really cracks me up.
Sweet Sopping Wet Katie
"That was fun Mama, now we are ready for MORE hot dogs!"
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"Welcome home to the Happy Haus" is the greeting I used to receive from Gary when we arrived home from work each day. Gary and I brought our daughter Natalie home from China in November 2011 to live with us in our cozy cottage. In October of 2013, we unexpectedly lost Gary, our dear husband, father and friend.
Our family includes our two sweet Newfoundland dogs, Katie and Louie. Newfoundlands are working dogs, so we make sure our two always have a job to do. Katie and Louie are both certified therapy dogs and bring lots of joy to people who are in need of some Newfie love. They have also competed in Rally Obedience. Katie has earned a Rally Advanced title and Louie has earned a Rally Excellent title. In keeping with Newf tradition, Katie has become a proficient draft dog while Louie prefers practicing water rescue whenever he gets an opportunity. They are also both protectors of their little sister, Natalie.
- Charity
