A Very Good Friday/How to Introduce Yourself to a Dog You Don't Know

Louie and Katie spent Good Friday doing what they love best (besides eating): Working!

They took turns teaching a lesson to second graders. The lesson of the day was "How to Introduce Yourself to a Dog You Don't Know."

Louie was such a patient boy and listened intently to my lecture.

I tried to make the lesson very simple in hopes that the kids might remember it the next time they meet a stranger dog. We used one hand to keep track of the five rules.

#1 Be quiet! (I told the students to be quiet and calm around dogs they don't know.)

#2 Do not stare into the dog’s eyes. (I explained a little bit about canine body language and how they perceive this as a threat.)

#3 Ask your parent!
Ask the dog owner!
Ask the dog!

(If the dog is backing away from you and acting reluctant don't try to pet it even if the adults told you it was ok. Let the dog come to you.)

#4 Hold out your fist for the dog to sniff.

#5 Pet the dog under the chin. (Don't reach over the top of their heads and don't come up behind them.)

After we reviewed the rules each child got to come practice on Louie. They had all met him back in November for reading day, so he worked out well for a first practice attempt.

Next Katie, a true stranger dog, came in the room. All the kids practiced again with her and everyone did a fantastic job! We had so much fun with this group of awesome students. It was a great way to spend our Good Friday.

A Touch of China While We Wait

Even though we have been very quiet at the Happy Haus about our upcoming adoption...

We are still thinking everyday about our precious daughter in China

Over 6 years of waiting haven't diminished our love and longing for a little girl we haven't met yet

The stork has been elusive

But finally we can see an end to our journey

It seems like forever since we have mentioned anything about our adoption, but there really hasn't been much to tell. We still don't have any concrete news, but it seems likely that our daughter will be home by the end of this year. After waiting for over 6 years to bring Natalie home, it's hard to believe that we are finally nearing the end of this journey.

Recently, in order to update our adoption paperwork, we had to get fingerprinted for the third time by the Department of Homeland Security in Memphis. The staff there was very efficient this trip, so we ended up having extra time which we used to visit the Memphis Zoo.

Our main agenda was to see the Pandas which perfectly fit the theme of the day.

This lovely lady had buried herself in bamboo and was enthusiastically chowing down the whole time we were there.

She looked so happy eating her 'nummy bamboo. I didn't realize that Pandas have to eat 40 pounds of bamboo every day and that it takes them almost all day to consume that amount.

Appropriately, our last stop at the zoo was to view examples of the iconic symbol of Natalie's future country.

For now we're going back to our hibernation mode on this subject until we have more news to share. 再见

Marathon Time

KATIE: Oh my gosh Louie...what's going on out here??

LOUIE: Cool! It's Marathon time again. It's always fun to hear lots of silly humans yell "look at those bears" as they run away as fast as they can.

KATIE: They weren't scared Louie-Lou; they were racing. You know, like we always do during our recall practice.

LOUIE: Oh yeah, you mean those races that I always win. Those are always fun too.

KATIE: Well, even better than the bear comments are the hundreds of "gorgeous dogs" comments. This year people are loving my girly bling. Seeing us seems to give their tired legs a little extra boost. We are therapy dogs so of course we like to help out whenever we can. Lifting spirits is our speciality.

LOUIE: I love it when people stop running the marathon just to pet us. I think all those kisses we give them really cheer them up.

Love and kisses to the thousands of runners who participated in this year's Marathon,

Katie and Louie

"Snow Newfs" the Movie

In Central Arkansas we are lucky to get an inch of snow once or twice a year. This year we hit the snow jackpot with two decent sized snows and then one big snow which totaled 7"!

Katie, Gary and Louie during the Big Snow of 2011.

This movie may not quite live up to the hype of the trailer we posted a few weeks ago, but you are not likely to find two happier Newfoundland dogs captured on film. Katie and Louie's elation during their playtime in the snow was such a treat for Gary and I to experience. Of course, we've seen them in snow before but their joy seemed greater than usual to match this deeper than normal snowfall. My favorite part is the second half of the movie when they really start playing chase and wrestling.

Our Snowy Hiking Trail

Wild eyed Newf

Handsome Snow Newf

"Stop taking pictures and come pull these sticks off of me!"

Back at the Happy Haus after our walk with the snow still coming down hard.

Newf Films Presents...

A tantalizing trailer for our upcoming movie: Snow Newfs

Does Your Dog Ever Pull on the Leash?

Katie and Louie are great dogs, but it's almost impossible to overcome any dog's natural canine instincts 100% of the time. Sometimes the compulsion to chase just takes over when they see a rabbit or a squirrel (not that Katie or Louie have ever caught one). When over 235 pounds of the world's strongest breed of dogs are attached to my wrists I think it's critical to find some way to save myself from being pulled down to the ground or in front of a car. I've struggled at times to find a way to control the Newfs in this type of unpredictable situation. After trying several different collars and harnesses I have finally found one that I love! It's called the Sense-ation No Pull Dog Harness and it really works. The things I like about it:

1) It's easy to get off and on - takes about 5 seconds to do

2) The harness can fit loosely on the dog and still be completely effective

3) Katie and Louie seem very happy when wearing it and actually play more attention to me than ever

4) Since it doesn't go around the dog's neck the dog can't choke itself.

The leash attaches to a ring that sits on a loose strap in the middle of the dog's chest.

When the dog starts to pull, the location of the leash makes them turn slightly to one side instead of going straight forward as they intended. Katie and Louie learned in about five minutes that the only way to keep going straight was to stop pulling on the leash.

Last week I didn't realize that an orange cat was running by our parking area right as I opened the back gate with Katie and Louie beside me. I could see that Katie and Louie's chase instinct kicked in immediately, but they didn't make any progress towards the cat and my arms did not get pulled out of their sockets. Hooray for these awesome harnesses!

In case you are interested, here's a link to the site where I found the best price with free shipping. I'm not affiliated in any way with this company. I just wanted to share this with you all because I thought others might benefit from this great tool as much as we have.

Beware of Bloat

Bloat is a very scary medical condition that can quickly become fatal for a dog. I'm posting about bloat on our blog because a couple of months ago a dog that attended our dog school died of this terrible disorder. If you are not familiar with bloat the simplest explanation that I can give is that the dog's stomach fills with trapped air. If the air build up continues the stomach can flip over which will cut off the blood supply to the stomach. If the bloat is not quickly treated the dog will very likely die.

The chart in the link below explains how to recognize bloat, how to treat it and what happens during each phase. We have this chart posted near Katie and Louie's dog food to remind ourselves and any of the dogs' caregivers what symptoms to watch for.

http://www.bmdinfo.org/Health/Reference_Guide_Bloat_GDV.pdf

Bloat is most common in deep chested dogs such as Great Danes, Rottweilers, Labs and Newfs, but it can happen to any dog. There is no magic bullet to prevent bloat, but a few things that are believed to be helpful are: feeding two smaller meals a day instead of one large meal, waiting two hours after the dog eats before exercising it and waiting one hour after the dog has exercised before feeding.

Happy Birthday Baby!

Happy Birthday to our super sweet boy, Louie Lou. We are so grateful that you are part of our family and we cherish everyday with you.

Louie at 4 months old

Louie at almost 3 years old

In honor of Louie's 3rd Birthday, Katie and Louie got to split a can of tuna. They politely waited during the birthday song before digging in.

Our little Louie, all grown up

Therapy Dog Milestone

Louie just received an award from Therapy Dogs International for completing 50 therapy visits.

Way to go Louie! We are so proud of you!

Friends + Newfs = FUN!

Three wonderful friends from Memphis came to stay with us this weekend. We all had a blast together going for long walks and playing games. Katie and Louie were charmed by our guests and ran up to their bedroom first thing this morning to give them time-to-wake-up kisses.

"C" was a big help to me by walking Katie while I walked Louie yesterday at the Big Dam Bridge. C and Katie quickly became the best of friends. Today when we went for a walk in the woods I let Katie off her leash. C and Katie stayed close together the whole time. Once when Katie went the wrong way C called her and she ran as fast as she could to his side. Katie responded so well to him and C was extremely attentive and observant of her.

I love this picture of "J" and Louie...two super cuties. Louie got a little rambunctious when he first met J for a few seconds until I firmly told him that even though she likes to bounce around she is not a puppy to wrestle with. After that reminder Louie was a perfect gentleman for the rest of their visit.

Our 3 friends with the Newfs

We were so sad for our friends to leave, but very grateful we got to spend this wonderful time with them.

The Best Newfie Weather

Two Sweet Newfs in Their Element

My Three Sweeties :)

Our Snowy Walk Through the Woods

Katie Back at the Happy Haus

Louie Before the Walk...

Louie After the Walk

See you all soon. XOXOXO from Katie and Louie

Fun Before the Storm

Katie, Louie, Gary and I went on a walk in the woods the day before we received several inches of snow. Stay tuned for scenes from our snowy walk this morning.

We have started letting Louie off leash when we are in areas where there are no other dogs around. He is doing a great job of staying close to his pack. It's nice to be able to use all of that obedience training in the real world.