Pooches in the Pumpkin Patch

We had to take advantage of the lovely pumpkins we received from our communtity supported agriculture program for a Newfie photo op.

Newfie Pumpkin Pull

Katie and Louie practiced their pumpkin pulling skills Friday evening. This was Louie's third time to pull the wagon. He's starting to get much more comfortable with drafting. As you can see by her wagging tail, Katie is very happy that Autumn is here so she can do draft work again.

Five for Five

People keep telling us that it is unusual for Newfoundlands to succeed in obedience competition. Louie has been in the Rally Obedience Ring five times and all five times he qualified. Today he earned his second leg toward his RA/Rally Advanced title. It was a tough run today because someone was playing with their dog and a toy right on the other side of the gate. Louie was very interested, but when I told him to leave it he got back on track. Also, the jump was immediately after a right turn which didn't give him a lot of room. I was worried, but Louie sailed over the jump. Gary built us some awesome jumps at home yesterday. We practiced last night and first thing this morning. I think that made a huge difference for Louie in the ring today.

Louie earning his 2nd Rally Obedience Advanced leg:


Louie on the left with his three ribbons and Katie on the right with her ribbon


Louie can never be serious for too long :-)

Cool Newfs in Hot Springs

Saturday was a great day for our family at an AKC dog show in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Louie competed for the first time in Advanced Rally Obedience and earned his first leg toward his RA title. Katie also competed in Advanced Rally and qualified for the third time. This means she now has her Rally Obedience Advanced title. Hooray for Katie. Now she is officially retired from the competition world. She is going to focus on her draft and therapy work since those are the activities she loves the best.

It was so thrilling to get to take both Newfs into the ring to receive their ribbons.


We are so proud of Katie and Louie!


Excerpts from Katie's performance:


Excerpts from Louie's performance:

Daddy's Boy

Although Katie and Louie adore both Gary and me (as we do both of them), Katie tends to be a Mama's girl and Louie tends to a Daddy's boy.

Louie loves to cuddle and play with Gary. At night he usually sleeps on the floor next to Gary's side of the bed while Katie sleeps on my side.

A Few Benefits of Having a Sibling

Having your best friend as your sibling is so convenient...

There's always someone around for cuddles and snuggles.

If you get tired of laying on the hard floor you can use your sib as a pillow.

You can wait impatiently together for Mama to come home.

When she takes too long you can give up waiting and lounge together.

If you get bored you can have a contest to see who can make the funniest face



We could go on and on with hundreds of reasons we love to be together, but you get the picture.

Hugs and Licks from Katie and Louie

The Dish on Dog Food

I am truly sorry if my post about dog food last week offended anyone; I wasn't trying to say that there is only one way to feed your dogs. Most readers of this blog are dog lovers and I'm sure we all do the best we can for our fur kids. Here is the story of the evolution of our dogs' diet:

For years I fed my Siberian Husky, Scarlett, Science Diet ID (prescription food for intestinal disorders). Scarlett had pancreatitis and this was the food that was supposed to make her feel better. Instead she continued to have disabling attacks about every 2 weeks. This food was costing me about $60/bag... definitely not a "cheap" food. I started doing a lot of research and found source after source stating that some dogs have difficulty processing wheat, corn and soy. I looked at the ingredients list on the Science Diet and found that the first ingredient was corn, so I thought it was time to try a different food to see if we could get Scarlett some relief.

I first heard about Canidae from Katie's breeders and decided to give it a try for our new puppy Katie and our 13 year old girl Scarlett. The Canidae agreed with them both and Scarlett's pancreatitis attacks went from every 2 weeks to every 8 weeks. I was so happy that my baby was almost free from this illness. Scarlett lived a happy life until she was over 15 years old. When Canidae changed their formula the food began making a lot of dogs sick, so I used the website dog food analysis as a starting point to evaluate our dog food options. I chose Orijen partially because it received the highest rating on this site, but also because so many of our Newfie friends have used it with enormous success for years. I read post after post on newf.net about dogs with various digestive disorders and skin problems that miraculously went away when their owners switched to Orijen. Since Louie was having some itchy skin problems I was hoping it would help him, and it did :-)

What we choose to feed our pets is a very personal decision. The main point of this post is not to change anyone's mind about what kind of dog food they buy, but instead to provide a source of information to those who are interested in digging deeper into this topic.

Are Newfies Strong?

Gary recently sent me a link to the Wikipedia page on Newfoundland dogs. Before reading the entry I already knew through personal experience that Newfies are extremely strong, but I wasn't aware that they are considered to be possibly the strongest of all dog breeds.

Here is one of my favorite YouTube videos which gives a hilarious look at just how strong Newfies are.

"As God is My Witness, I'll Never Go Hungry Again"

Any other "Gone With the Wind" fans out there? I am a huge fan myself. Some of you may not know that my full name is Wilbon's Katie Scarlett O'Hara. Like the heroine of that book, I love the feeling of a full belly and the comfort of knowing that the dog pantry is fully stocked up.

Mama orders our food online and a big shipment just came in. If Louie and I had our way we would get ten pounds of dog food a day, but our parents are big meannies and insist we stay slim...some mumbo jumbo about that being better for our joints. Our diet is also strict because we never get any wheat, corn or soy. Now this part I have no complaints about 'cause those fillers give my brother a terrible rash. Our Newfoundland ancestors lived mainly off fish and so do we. We love our Orijen 6 fish food so much that we will do lots of tricks just for one piece of kibble. When a whole bowl is put in front of me...WOW...the only word that comes to mind is "Heaven".

Lots of love and Newfie kisses to all my doggie and human friends, Katie

Louie's First Draft Lesson

Since I turned 19 months old recently and since the weather was decent today, I was finally able to talk Mama into giving me my first draft lesson. I have to admit I didn't really know what a "draft" was... I thought it was like a little breeze or something. But, I remembered that Katie always gets really excited whenever she gets to go drafting, so I wanted to try it out.

First Mama put this harness on me which was pretty much the same as my car seatbelt, so I didn't mind it a bit. Then she told me to "Stand" and "Stay"...piece of cake for a pro like me. Then she started hooking me up to this wagon thing. I didn't care because I was focused on my Stand Stay. Then she told me "Forward" and offered me a salmon treat - Yum! I started walking forward and it felt weird because something was dragging behind me. It made me walk kind of funny for the first minute or so, but I stayed calm because that's just the way I am... call me Mr. Stability. Mama said she was so proud of me and she complimented me the whole time on what a good job I was doing.

Here I am patiently waiting for Mama to unhook the cart.

When can we go again Mom?

Dumpster Diving

Katie and Louie have been finding a lot of interesting things on our walks lately, but a few days ago they really hit the jackpot. Someone put a trash bag full of perfectly good clean stuffies by the curb for trash collection. We picked out a few and brought them home. Louie is especially enamored of these new toys.

Rally-O Practice

After taking a break from rally training we are getting back on track in preparation for our upcoming competition in Hot Springs, Arkansas at the end of September. It will be Louie's first time off lead in the ring as he works toward his Rally Advanced title. Katie already has 2 Rally Advanced legs. I told her if she gets one more leg in Hot Springs she can retire from the rally ring at the ripe old age of not quite 3 years old. Katie obviously enjoys practicing rally, but she gets tense in the ring. She will be focusing instead on her draft and therapy work. Louie, on the other hand, is phased by nothing and seems to enjoy competing. He will continue to do rally, therapy work, conformation and will hopefully start working toward his CD next spring. I will also give him an introduction to drafting as soon as the weather is cool enough.

Katie

Louie

"Speak!" Therapy

Therapy Dogs Come in All Sizes: Bonnie the Yorkie & Katie the Newfie

Last Saturday Katie and I visited the kids at Easter Seals.One teenage boy who is both mentally and physically challenged has always maneuvered his wheelchair into a corner to hide when the dogs come to visit.In the past when we have attempted to talk to him he has always turned his chair away from us.During this visit he was, as usual, way across the room by himself when Katie and I were showing a little girl some of Katie's tricks.When I asked Katie to "speak" everyone in the room jumped at the sonorous Newf bark that came out of her cavernous mouth. Across the room a shriek, which was quickly followed by a chuckle, came from the shy teenage boy. I asked Katie to speak again and this time the boy started openly laughing. I walked across the room towards him and asked if he wanted Katie to speak again. Even though his head was completely down I could see his slight nod, so I asked Katie to speak a few more times. Each time she barked he would laugh. At one point he reached his hand out like he was going to pet Katie, but then decided against it. His teacher said this was big step for him. We are hoping that Katie can bring him a little further out of his shell with each visit. Maybe next time he will be able to feel the soft fur on our extremely loud Newf.

A little girl laughs as she dodges kisses from Katie

Remy the Amazing Newf Puppy

Remember Remy, our favorite baby Newfie? Well, he is busy growing up with his Mom and Dad in California. He's not quite 4 months old and he already weighs over 50 pounds. Remy's going to be a big boy; good thing he is a total sweetheart. 

Wilbon's Ultimate Gift ~~~~ Remy


Besides being outrageously cute, Remy is also brillantly clever. Have you ever heard of a puppy that never had a single potty accident inside? Remy NEVER did. Can you imagine?!?! Not one single accident. Of course this was partially due to his Mama, Maija's vigilence in taking him outside often and giving him lots of positive reinforcement. The other part of the equation is that Remy is a genius. On his second or third night with his new parents he started letting them know when he needed to go out by gently waking Maija in the middle of the night and then going to sit by the door. Remy is an easy going boy who sits patiently during daily grooming sessions and was completely crate trained by 10 weeks old.

Remy is loving life with his Mama, Daddy and Auntie. We miss everyone so much, but are comforted by all of the pictures that Maija sends to us. Remy is a very special Newf puppy and we are happy to know that Louie's little brother has a wonderful, loving home.

Enjoying the End of Summer

Summertime in Arkansas is usually not a pleasant time for a Newf, but this summer has been milder than most. We have actually been able to spend a little bit of time playing outside.

Here's a glimpse into some of the fun we have been having lately.


We hope you all are staying cool and having fun...xoxo Louie & Katie

Fun Match

This weekend Gary showed Louie in an AKC fun match in Little Rock.

Here's a picture of the ribbons Louie won.

Louie tries to stay cool while waiting for his turn in the ring.

Louie, Gary and Katie

Louie Gets Gorgeous

Gary took Louie up to Cabot today to be trimmed by Bonnie, his breeder, in preparation for a conformation fun match next Friday. I usually trim Katie and Louie myself, but I'm not very good at it yet. I didn't want Louie to look goofy in the show, so Bonnie agreed to trim him for us.

Doesn't he look handsome? :-) Thanks Bonnie!

Newfie Window Dressing

"Mama stop working in the yard and come in to play with us!"

Our Super Cool New Fan

Our Auntie Maija told us that Little Remy got an awesome fan that he just loves, so we decided we needed one too. It came in the mail today and we immediately snuggled up to it. Some people like to get cozy in front of fireplaces, but we are coziest in front of cool fans.





A Kiss for My Sis

Finders Keepers, Losers...

Yup, Louie is crying like a baby because for ONCE I have a toy and he doesn't. My bratty little brother is always stealing my toys...never lets me keep anything in my mouth for longer than 1/2 a second. Well, I found this super cool toy in the street on our walkie yesterday. I carried it the whole entire walk. Mama said since I was so fond of it she would make sure I got to play with it before Louie got his grubby paws and teeth on it. Louie was banished to the kitchen with Daddy and I went to my special bed and played with my new toy. 20 minutes of uninterrupted playtime was pure bliss.

Chomp!

The Muddy Water of Lake Sylvia

by Louie the 17 month old Newf...

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 ;-)

Reverse Psychology for Newfs

Although Katie and Louie are both on the high energy end of the spectrum for a relatively low energy breed, they sometimes temporarily become couch potatoes. It's as if they decide that it is just impossible for them to peel their great mass away from where it appears to have melted into the floor. If I say their name during one of these moments the only acknowledgement I receive is maybe an eye blink. I used to struggle to find a way to move them when they were in their nearly comatose states until the day I discovered that reverse psychology works on dogs.

One evening upon returning from dog school Katie decided that she was perfectly comfortable in the car and she would just spend the night there. Since this was not acceptable to me I had to find a way to get her out. After discovering that my usually obedient dog was not going to listen to me I thought I might be able to trick her into getting out of the car. I needed Katie to want to get out so I decided to convince her that I didn't want her to get out of the car yet. Katie and Louie know the "wait" command extremely well, so I said "Waaaaaaait" in a very low and slow voice to make her anticipate the release word of a very upbeat "Ok". Sure enough when I said "waaaaaait" her head popped up, her eyes snapped to attention and her body became rigid with anticipation. I waited several seconds then said "OK". She practically flew out of the car.

When our Newfs aren't tired all that is needed is a command of "Katie move" or "Louie move" if they are blocking the fridge or backdoor, but when trying to budge a sleepy Newfoundland something extra is needed. This handy reverse psychology trick works like a charm every time.

Cyber Sisters in Opryland

Charity, Beth, Lori, Autumn, Sue and Cary

During the past three years I have been very fortunate to become close friends with a small group of extraordinary women whose families were logged into the China adoption program in July of 2006 - the same month as Gary and I. These families are all using the same agency as us, so some of us will definitely travel to China together. There are about a dozen women who are active in our group and six of us were able to meet in Nashville. These incredibly strong and beautiful women have become some of my dearest friends. It was surreal to sit down and talk to some of them face to face after three years of sending thousands of emails back and forth and sometimes talking on the phone. We have given each other so much support during this seemingly endless wait for our daughters... sharing lots of laughter and tears along the way. Someday we will share in each others' joy as we receive our referrals and then when we travel to China to bring our daughters home. I'm looking forward to many reunions over the years with my Cyber Sisters and our daughters.

Ready for Their Baby Sisters to Come Home


The Whole Nashville Gang


Charity and Sue


Cary and Sue

Our logo designed by Sue

When is Mama Coming Home?