Out & About

Breton and I had a busy couple of days this week. On Monday and Tuesday, we went to all of the following places (some of them twice)!

• Terwillegar Off Leash Park
• Toyota for Truck Service
• AMA for a visit with the ladies
• Superstore - We had our first "full" grocery shop together! I was so proud of Breton!
• Starbucks (necessary)
• TWO Doctor's appointments - the second appointment is worth a separate post
• G & E Pharmacy - to purchase a remedy for her favorite backyard delicacy's courtesy of Bentley

ACTION Shots

Dawson Park Puppy Class

We were at Dawson Park for puppy class today. On Tuesday's, the litter is divided into two groups for training. Our group consists of Breton (top picture, bottom right), Sydney (middle right), Schooner (top right...I think), and Digby (bottom left...I think).

Schooner and Digby are the big boys in our group, and Sydney and Breton are the girls who are chewing their sticks, as you can see.

Sleepy Early June Morning

Breton is 4 Months Old Today

Her Jacket is getting small for her (look at how it is buldging around her ribs). Her Brother's have been wearing the next size up for about a week, but they grew out of their's at least a couple of weeks ago. She is still smaller than the boys.

We go to see Dr. Scott today to have her final round of puppy shots. Yes! We'll see how much she weighs compared to her last visit a month ago when she weighed 19 lbs. I am guessing she is about 10 lbs. heavier now.

No Beatles were Harmed in the Production of this Video Clip

Adventure's at Terwillegar Off Leash Park

Webster's English Definintion of: Giraffe

gi-raffe' n. African animal with very long neck

Dinner at Gill and Roh's

Dear Indy, Bracken, Gill and Roh,

Hiya! It’s me, Breton. I just wanted to thank-you for having me and my human’s over for dinner last night and for welcoming me into your home. I regret not meeting you Bracken, but that’s okay as I am still in that “ready, set, go” stage and I probably would have tried to chase you around your house. Indy, thank you for trying to make friends with me, and I’m sorry for wuffing at you, I was just real excited to meet you. I sure appreciated the experience of getting to know you and thanks so much for accommodating my visit and especially for hanging out in the bedroom when my human asked your human’s to hide you. Your house is so cool, and so much bigger than mine, with lots of different smells to explore. I probably wouldn’t have been quite as inquisitive if I had been tired. My human was supposed to exercise me before we came over, but she didn’t want to risk us getting caught in a down pour, so we didn’t make it to the park. Don’t worry though, she told me on the way home that that won’t happen again (I sure was happy to hear that) and likely I’ll sleep most of the next visit if I can come over again.

Do you want to hear something funny? When we left your house, Bentley and I got to go to the park and we sure ran hard. I guess we really did have a lot of energy to burn. Wouldn’t you know, after avoiding down pours at the park all day yesterday, when we arrived last night the skies opened up and we all got wet! Ha ha, silly humans. Bentley and I didn’t mind, but our humans sure were funny ‘cause they got all wet and dirty! We got to have a nice warm relaxing bath when we got home and when I went to bed, I dreamt about all of the fun I had at your place.

Thank-you for having me over and helping me to become a well socialized and well behaved doggy. My human’s are especially grateful. Thank-you Gill, Roh, Indy and Bracken.


Your Friend’s,

Breton, Greg & Shannon

You Know You're A Dog Person If...

You have a kiddie wading pool in the yard but no small children
You hang around the dog section of your local bookstore way too often
You have baby gates permanently installed at strategic places around the house but no babies

You don't think it's the least bit strange to stand in the back yard chirping "Molly, Pee!" over and over at your dog
You get an extra long hose on your shower massage just so you can use it to wash the dog in the tub, without making the dog sit hip deep in water
Your weekend activities are planned around taking your dog for a hike
You refer to yourself as "mommy" and "daddy"
Your dog sleeps with you
You shovel a zig-zag path in the back yard snow so your dog can reach all of his favorite places
Your have 32 different names for your dogs, most make no sense but they understand
Your dog eats poop but you still let him/her kiss you (but not immediately after, of course)
Poop has become a source of conversation for you and your significant other
You are the only idiot walking in the pouring rain because your dog needs his walk
You lecture people on responsible dog ownership every chance you get
You keep eating even though you find a dog hair in your pasta
You carry dog biscuits in your pockets all the time
You talk about your dogs like other people talk about their kids

The American Bloodhound Club Bulletin Spring 1996

"Seriously, could I be any CUTER?"

Stony Plain Farmer's Day Parade

Breton and I got to be in the Stony Plain Farmer's Day Parade on Saturday with Dogs with Wings. It was a beautiful day for a parade, and we were so proud of all of the dogs who participated because the parade route took over an hour to walk, and most of the dogs who arrived early waited around for an hour before the parade even began. While we were waiting, the dogs got to play together in the field beside our starting point. Breton and Clipper were the two youngest dogs there and boy were they tired by the end of the parade. Way to go puppies!

Puppy Time

Last night was our first session at Waggin' Tails and only the second time that all of the puppies have been together since they arrived in Edmonton. It is hard to tell who is who because they are all black. There are 3 boys and 4 girls.

Training with the Big Kids!

Every second Friday we have a training session with all of the pup's from Breton's litter. We get together at a business called Waggin' Tails where the owner kindly donates her business space to DWW for puppy training classes.

Breton got to prove her stuff to all of the older dogs (another litter who are 9 months old), because her mom (me) thought our training time was at 6pm, but actually, our session was at 7pm. Instead of coming back when our group arrived, we got to stay and practice with the big dogs! Breton proved that she belonged there and showed those teenaged dogs what an obedient girl she is!

Puppy Coordination

Aren't puppies the cutest when they stumble about!

Grandma's Backyard

Last weekend we visited Grandma and played in her backyard.

Becoming Good Friends

Bentley has been such a help in raising a puppy - especially during Breton's mouthing stage - she chews on him instead of us. He is incredibly patient with her crawling all over him and doesn't seem to mind her chewing on his ears (her favorite). We have begun seeing moments between them where there is a relationship forming that isn't just a pesty little sister/boring big brother dynamic. Yesterday, I got the first camera shot of them laying "together" (that was big moment) on Bentley's bed.

Play Time

Dawn (DWW Puppy Coordinator) asked me to describe Breton in "one" word for the Spring News Letter. I said "Dainty" and she thought that was interesting because all of her sister's are real fire cracker's (so far). I told her, Breton has her moments too, but usually she has them with Bentley. It has been funny watching how good she is at keeping Bentley pinned to the ground.

Too Big for Puppy Bed

It's official, Breton is definitely growing.
Last week, I took her puppy bed and put it away as she can't stretch out in it anymore. I found she started sleeping on the carpet beside her bed at night, so I pulled out one of Bentley's big beds for her to have at night now. Thank goodness, the big bed makes her look small again.

Below is the puppy bed Breton slept in for the first month of her stay with us. It used to be Bentley's puppy bed, and as you can see, when I brought it out for Breton, he didn't want to share.

"Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore". (Dorothy, "The Wizard of Oz", 1939)

We had a snow storm on Saturday,
April 19 that lasted for two days. By the end of it, our backyard was as full of snow as it had been all winter.