Water Dog

Sophie loves the water.  She just gravitates towards it.   It's so nice to see that the instinct is there.  The sprinkler photos were taken in July but the other one and the video are from August. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGTRH-Lht78

Canine Companions

These are some photos from back in July but I thought I'd give you a glimpse of how Sophie and Quincy play together.  Quincy is really very kind to Sophie.  He is incredibly tolerant of her puppy antics.  When she has a toy that he wants he will whine and cry and wait for her to give it up.  Looks like she is going to be the boss dog in the house.  Typical female :0)

Fun times on the French River

We just got home yesterday from a weekend with friends at their cottage on the French River http://www.visitfrenchriver.com/ .  It is so breathtakingly beautiful up there.  Quincy, God bless him, is his own worst enemy and due to his *intense* love of retrieving and swimming will go non stop.  His pause button is broken because he whines and roos incesantly if he's not in the water and basically drives us all crazy.  I do think if he got a steady diet of water he'd be fine but he doesn't and he's not so he stayed behind with Gran and the cat.  Besides with two car seats, a stuffed Thule bag on top, a big honkin cooler and every conceivable nook and cranny packed in tight there was only room for one kennel.  So we brought Sophie.

And she looooooved it and she was so so good.  She fit right in with all the kids.  She swam in the river, dug in the sand and felt the wind in her fur on the boat.  Here are some photos  and video from the trip.  Enjoy.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1VNJwLsMt0

And this is Sophie...

She is the new puppy in town.  She is 17 weeks old and an adorable ball of black fur. With Quincy getting on in years we thought it would be a good time to add a puppy to the family.  So on July 9th we brought her home from her breeder's http://www.neigenuveaux.com . We are head over heals in love with this dog.  She has the sweetest temperament.  She loves kids and other dogs and will happily greet anyone she meets.  She is learning not to go after the cat (much to our cat Daphne's relief).   To my utter joy, Sophie was swimming at 15 weeks old.  What a thrill.  Unfortunately I have no photos of this momentous occasion since I was in the pond with her at the time but she did me proud my little girly-whirly.  We are looking forward to lots of fun with this very special pup.

Where do I start?

Well here goes.  My first foray into blogging.  Guess I'll introduce Quincy first.  He is our first dog and at nine years old he is considered a senior citizen, although he somehow seems to have missed that memo.  He is a consumate retriever and ball obsessed.  In fact half the time we are hard pressed to tell which is the puppy, him or Sophie.  Quincy is always up for whatever you want to do  That's what made trying so many different things with him so much fun.  Despite having to put up with a novice handler who learned to show him in conformation, trial in obedience and play in the field we did end up coming away with some letters in front of and behind his name.  His greatest love is the field game.  His drive and enthusiasm are what got me out of bed many a cold winter morning to go train.  I have met so many wonderful people and tried so many new and fullfilling things with him.  I will forever be endebted to my little red dog who continues to teach me so much.