Gracepreggers05112010

August 11, 2011

September 25, 2011


Dear Friends of the River Bear Website..

Right now we are finding it very hard to keep up. We plan to get back to weekly log updates, but we don’t know just when.

Dan’s health is always a concern, and while he makes progress, there are always steps back. Right now he is having A-fib problems again which negate so many of the gains he has made. And it is frightening. Sometimes Dan has trouble breathing which is a panic attack, but Mac noticed last night and got in bed with him and calmed him down. The 9 dogs spend most of their time right at our feet or in our laps. They worry.

Both Melanie and I have taken on most of the work the house and dogs need, along with all the driving and care that Dan needs. We do have help, and Jesse, the young man who does so much inside and out is a Godsend. Martha and her family are wonderfully helpful and we realize how fortunate we are.

We cannot have puppies now, as while caring for them is a joy, getting the proper tests and keeping up with the paper work is beyond me. We still have Katie and Gracie who could have pups again and Melanie has as a goal to get well enough so we can have at least one more litter.

We lost our Bess just before last Christmas. Now Patsy Ketcham, the healthiest dog we ever had with highest marks for hips and elbows has bone cancer. She is too old to amputate the leg, so we are spoiling her and giving her acupuncture and everything else suggested along with pain pills which keep her happy. She is even taking Fosamax which they give women who are close to osteoporosis..only instead of every week, she takes one every day!

Then Franklin got a very high fever, first time I ever remember him sick. We got him to the Vet last week and he is much better today. For me, it’s just too much loss. Mattie, Mac, Rose, Roz, Katie, Gracie and 12 year old Eleanor are healthy and keep us laughing and hopeful.

So for now, please keep us up to date with E mail, we love getting pictures and updates, and join us on Facebook. The Face book is under my name, but Melanie uses it more. Her entries are signed MM.

Just let us know that you are a reader of the our log and we’ll friend you.

Getting old isn’t very golden...but we are learning.

Best to all, Zoe

Guess who’s Twelve?

Our own . . .

Nashau-Auke Eleanor!

She’s had to put up with a great deal . . .



Has had to pose for Rob’s pictures . . .



But we think she loves us anyway!



So Happy Birthday Eleanor!

(The above is done in purple, because everyone knows that when you are old you must wear purple.)

Sorry about our long delay on the log.
Been busy and Melanie went on a vacation.

She did do the video

Jowls.

From what we can tell she has watched way too many shark movies.

Take care, and see you soon.



July 18, 2011

We have not forgotten you!
Just been very busy.
We now have a
NEW PUMP AND FILTER!

All hooked up and working and is happy and we are happy and the Pack is happy and everyone is
HAPPY!

We had to vacuum everything that the old pump and filter left in the pool.
Since it was new water it was REALLY cold.

So soon there will be more photos and videos of
Newfs in a Pool,
but this week they couldn’t use it so here are some random shots!

Patsy got a bath!



Have no idea what the purple spot is, it was not connected to Patsy.



She loves bath time.



But, Llama dryer time is the best!



Mac is waiting his turn.

River Bear Luna
had her portrait taken.



Awesome!

What is River Bear Joy looking at on the shelf?



Her diploma from
Intermediate Obedience!



That’s all this week,
Take care.



Happy Fourth of July!


! UPDATE !

River Bear Newfoundlands is supporting a

Benefit Auction!

Justin & Rebecca Savidis
of
Snowhook Kennel

One of the Snowhook Pack



Melanie WISHES she had taken this picture.
It was taken by Justin.

Justin and Rebecca care and love their dogs.
During the 2010 Iditarod, one of the sled team, Whitey-Lance, disappeared.
Instead of continuing the race, Justin withdrew and looked for his missing dog.

Whitey-Lance was found and in the 2011 Iditarod sported a
”Where’s Whitey-Lance?” shirt.




The Snowhook team started and finished the race this year.

You will find a dedicated Pack of The Plunderers who donated the items and set up the Benefit Auction.

The Plunderers are the faithful fans of Spencer Quinn’s
Chet and Bernie novels.

www.chetthedog.com

Spencer has generously given his support to Snowhook by making it possible for The Plunderers to donate to them.

First came The Patch . . .



The Patch will be on Snowhook’s sled and team!
The Plunderers will have them and a select few will be able to purchase them in a few weeks from Snowhook.

We are now doing an auction.
Dan, Zoe, McKey and Melanie have all donated items.
Please check it out!
The Auction ends July 10th.

Snowhook Auction

As our Newfoundlands were bred to save . . .
Sled dogs were bred to run.

As Justin and Rebecca say,

THEY WANT TO RUN.
THEY NEED TO RUN.
THEY LOVE TO RUN.

Now Back to our regular Log!

It was Mac and Rosalyn’s seventh birthday yesterday!
Happy Birthday to all their siblings!
(Especially you, Wendell)

Dan is on vacation in Maine.
Martha, his daughter, drove him up to see Daniel, his son, and Carolyn and Brendan.





Looking good!

We heard from River Bear Joy.



She’s having a good time this summer.
By herself . . .



Or with friends.

River Bear Isabelle does not like the vet.



We’re sure the vet won’t find her under there.


What have Zoë and Melanie been up to?

Well, for one day it was warm and sunny and it was
POOL TIME!

Of course, Melanie did a video!

Just click the title . . .

Newfs in a Pool

That’s all this week,
Take care.



June 25, 2011

Yes, we know there was no entry last week.
But really, who wants to look at very wet Newfoundlands?
If they were in the pool, that would be one thing.
In fact, Melanie received the waterproof case for the flip video, but even the dogs didn’t want to go swimming.

So we waited a week.
It’s still raining.

Melanie says she’s trying to figure out how to evacuate three humans and nine Newfoundlands in one canoe and two kayaks.
Just in case.

We’re not sure if we’re having fog or we’re caught in the clouds!

This morning it was 58 degrees and only misting, so Zoë and Melanie took The Pack up to the forest preserve.

We couldn’t get up the usual hill, the ground is very soft and we didn’t want to get stuck.

Zoë and eight dogs went up and Melanie and Ellie took a lot longer.



Bye Zoë!



Ellie starts up the hill.
Melanie said that Ellie walked faster than her.
Zoë said it was because Ellie has more legs.



Bye guys!



They’re gone.
Ellie and Melanie are getting to the top.

They stop.



The ferns were pretty.



Whoa, there they are way over there!



Ellie and Melanie have been spotted!
Rose and Grace want to know who that is!



Melanie called and they KNEW!



It’s a wonderful feeling to be joyfully greeted by Newfs.



And more Newfs.
That’s Franklin.



And more Newfs.
What has Mac got on his shoulder?



New bling.



Hi Zoë!



Bye Zoë!
She got the raincoat at the Newf Spring Fling!



Left behind again.



Happy Dogs!



Grace keeps an eye on Zoë.

The humidity in the van is now over 100%.
(Yes, we know that is impossible, but you try sitting in there!)



Steamed up windows and
more bling for Mac!

That’s all this week,
Take care!



June 14, 2011

It’s these guys’
FIRST BIRTHDAY!



Ahhhh, aren’t they cute?
Just little handfuls of wonderfulness!

They’ve gotten larger . . .



George and Gertie (with friends!)



Mia and then with her best friend . . .



Scout and Mia!




JOY!!

Two funny stories.

One of the other puppies from this litter, Riley, was working at his parents’ greenhouses.
A couple came in and saw Riley and asked if he had ever seen the
River Bear Newfoundlands.
He’s from there they were told.

Turns out this couple had been riding bikes by the house and had seen our free entertainment consisting of coaxing the Pack into the pool!



This is Franklin at the
Newfoundland Club of New England’s Spring Fling.

Zoë and Melanie took Patsy and Franklin.
They attended workshops, met up with JOY!
Joy is Patsy’s Granddaughter and Franklin’s niece.

Walking around and meeting people and their dogs is big there, and a woman with a Grace found us.

Melanie told her that Patsy had a Grace and then said,
“Patsy is actually Patsy Ketcham.”

The woman looked at us and said,
“River Bear Patsy Ketcham? Zoë Montague?”

Turns out that she had read Dan’s book!
For The Love of Puppies

Cool.

We had a great time at the Spring Fling.
Melanie, being Melanie, has done a short video.

Click the link to watch!

NCNE’s Spring Fling 2011

That’s all this week,
Take care.

June 5, 2011

First off, we’re fine.
We had thunder, lightning and hail stones, but we did not get the tornados.



Yup, those are golf ball sized hail.

It took to the next day to hear from all our friends and puppy families in the area of the tornados.
We breathed a sigh of relief, no one was hurt.
Our Newfoundlands knew something was up, they barked and barked at the weather.
Dingle Newfoundlands Cleo (Franklin’s pup, Kathy Luce’s kennel) showed more sense by spending the time in the bathroom.

Now, why didn’t we do a Log last weekend?

It was really hot, humid and sunny here.
Ninety and above!

Katie found a cool spot.



Then we shooed her and The Pack out of the Play yard!

AND

Thanks to Dan and Zoë’s grandchildren:




McKey




Rachel
(frowning at her brother’s work)



James

AND



Jesse
(he’s not a grandchild, but he’s nice enough to be)

THE DOG POOL IS UP!!!!!

Here’s the link for the video.

River Bear Newfoundlands’ Dog Pool

That’s all this week.
Take care!



May 21, 2011

First, it’s good to be here!

Second, we had some doings this week . . .
(Besides the RAIN everyday)



A large truck pulled up to the house.
The Pack loved it because they got to bark!
(The delivery guy thought they were beautiful)



Hmm . . .

A sofa? A chair?



Lots of boxes . . .

Jesse (our go to guy) is about to help run and push that dolly.



James (Grandson) helps put the boxes in the barn.



What are they so proud of?

They just moved 300 pounds of . . .

Wait for it . . .

DOG POOL!



We love that they sent it to us as a “Dog College”!

Yes, we know we live near the river.
Yes, we know the dogs love to go in the river.

But during the river break up this Spring,
the water tossed our area with huge rocks.

Not good for Newfs to go over (nor humans).
Also the beavers are very busy in our area,
and they don’t like dogs.

So we have a large above ground dog pool
made just for dogs.
(Heavy duty vinyl and heavy duty filter system)

We were hoping to get pictures of the pool going up.
Not with this rain.
The bulldozer would have sunk.

So Tuesday the bulldozer comes and next weekend the pool goes up!

Zoë has her wet suit ready!

Pretty cool, huh?

That’s all this week.
Take care.



May 16, 2011

Well, the virus that struck last week has been hanging on and on and on . . .

We weren’t going to have any pictures when Cleo sent us some pictures. She saved us!

Cleo is one of Franklin’s puppies.
Her mom was from Dingle Newfoundlands (Kathy Luce).



It must be very important to keep the paparazzi guessing.



Cleo teaching us the correct way to wear a scarf (something Melanie has never figured out).

BIG SURPRISE COMING FOR
THE NEWF PACK
THIS WEEK!
But, we aren’t telling them or you until next weekend!

That’s all this week.
Take care.



May 8, 2011

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY
(to everyone it pertains to)
(a day late)

Here it’s
Zoë, Melanie,Ellie, Patsy, Mattie, Ros, Katy and Gracie!

We’ve all been under the weather this week
(except The Pack)
some nasty virus going around.

So here is a picture of one of
Martha Bodine’s, Dan and Zoë’s daughter,
chickens!

Yes, she has chickens!



Hopefully next week the two legged part of The Pack will be back to normal.

That’s all this week,
Take care.

May 1, 2011

Happy First Day of May!
(let’s hope all the snow is over)

What better way to celebrate a warm day than to find a new pond?



Gorgeous!
The Pack thought so too . . .



They raced out of the van . . .
Gracie is the lead, Rose is coming up hard on second, and Franklin has noticed the pond and getting ready for a dash.



Mattie surveys the situation as Mac and Ros join the race.



Ros and Rose waded in . . .



And discovered it was deep enough to swim!



Patsy and her son Franklin get moving.
Dog, did The Pack have fun.



And were really wet.



Patsy gives a lesson on how to do a great shake.

First one way . . .



Then the other. . .

Great time was had by all.

We have a surprise coming for them.
We’ll let you know when it comes in.

A new video is up!

A spoof documentary called

A Sighting of the Rare
Ellie Newfasourous

Melanie did the taping,
and McKey Carpenter, her son,
did the voice over.

Just click the title of the “documentary” and it will get you to Melanie’s channel.

That’s all for this week.
Take care.

April 23, 2011

HAPPY SPRING!

Wait, what is this?



We can’t believe this . . .
Check the backyard.



Yup, it snowed two inches over night.

So . . . is “Happy Winter “ in order?

It was Gracie’s turn to be groomed this week.




Gracie wasn’t sure about the whole thing.

Random shots of The Pack.



Rose



Mattie



Rosalind



Ellie at the spring fed pond.



Ellie, the backlit beauty.

If you haven’t watched the new
River Bear Newfoundland
video,
Click on the title . . .

Walk, Run and Swim

Melanie is having so much fun with her present!

News from the Litters:

River Bear Bailey and River Bear Joy
live near each other.

Bailey & Joy have been playing with each other but it's hard to get them to stay still for a photo!  Here's one of Bailey snoozing on a rainy day (and very bored), and one of Bailey & joy at the beach.



(We bet The Pack would love to go to the beach)


Bailey must play very hard to look that tired!

The next group is from a walk that
River Bear Toro
took!

He's SUCH a happy dog, and so beautiful -- he gets more attention than any dog I've ever seen, and he just eats it up.  I swear, he bats his big brown eyes at people who fawn over him.  He loves other dogs, and he loves stuffed animals.  He never tears up stuffed animals, and likes to bring them with him to the car anytime we go anywhere.  Sometimes, he'll take one of his stuffed animals to his bed and "knead" it with his paws, like a cat does.  It's so funny.



Off for a walk.



A mighty leap!



What a smile!



Posing.

That’s all this week.
Take care.

April 16, 2011

Sorry about the delay. Things got hectic again, but are calming down now. Hope you enjoyed Mattie’s video. There are two more videos up, but they are of Melanie’s trip to NYC to see her son. Not a Newf in sight!

Melanie's YouTube Channel

Dogs Groomed!



Eleven and 2/3 year old Ellie.
Groomed and all ready drooling.



Ros all prettied up.
Any dog with a kerchief on has been groomed.
Just in time to lose their winter coat!

FINALLY,
the snow has melted at the camp.
We got the van down there with all nine Newfs.

Freedom!



It’s enough to make you jump for joy.



Lots of new smells.





Zoë counting dogs.
Where’s Ellie?



Ellie goes her own way and at her own pace.
She does not have a walk/run.
She has a stroll.





Oh boy, Zoë has treats.



Newfs multiply when treats are involved.
(What does Zoë have around her neck?)



That’s Bess’s old bib that says,
“Alpha Newf”.



Grazing before going back to the van.



How do we get nine Newfs in a van?



Carefully!
That’s Katy in the passenger seat.



Melanie snapped this picture just before she backed the van up.
They really love their walk/run.
Then they sleep for the rest of the day.

That’s all this week.
Take care.

April 3, 2011

Been an “interesting” two weeks. All of us are on the mend AGAIN.

Melanie is not using a cane!!! Zoë is getting better and so is Dan.

Melanie received her birthday present early. Which shows she has a very strange sence of humor. Just follow the link!

Mattie gets tired of being locked outside.




That’s all this week.
Take care.

March 19, 2011

Having one of those weeks. Zoë hurt her back, Dan is getting better, Melanie is working (thank goodness for our go-to guy Jesse) and the Pack is HELPING!

So here is the one photo we have!



Hope you had a Great St. Paddy’s Day!

Happy Spring!

Take care
More next week.



March 13, 2011

Happy
82nd
Birthday
DAN!




What are Zoë, Dan, James and Rachel looking at so intently?



A Birthday Chat for Dan!
Rob, Andrea and McKey were all together in NJ and called Dan to say Happy Birthday.
They are using iChat video.

We’ve had a changed in the wind . . .



We wish it would bring in Mary Poppins.
The stockade is looking really yucky.

The river broke!



That’s out the back.



Still gets cold here though.
Those are icicles hanging from that tree.



And the beaver damage is very visible.

Only two pictures of Newfoundlands today and a story.



That’s Mattie saying “Keep your hands off the Dalmatian.”



Here’s Great grandmother Ellie and
her Great grandchild Rose.
There’s nothing like having a Newf at your back.

The Facts:
Grace and Katy are both in heat.
(Don’t get your hopes up, nothing going on right now with breeding.)
Franklin and Mac are having a grand time.
(Neither of them can be a father any longer.)
Melanie is known to give out treats in her room.

The Story:
Melanie was upstairs working on the computer there while Dan and Zoë were directly downstairs in the living room watching a movie.
Franklin was upstairs with Melanie, catching a nap and a treat or two, when in prances Grace.

“Hi ya, big fella!” She says.
“Whoa,” says Frank, “you’re quite a treat.”

They begin to flirt with one another.
That’s almost three hundred pounds of Newfoundland flirting in a one hundred and ninety-nine year old house.

Melanie’s room is bouncing up and down.
Her computer is not only bouncing up and down but beginning to move off the desk.

She yells at them to take it outside as Zoë is yelling at her to make sure she’s okay.
Dan and Zoë thought the dogs had knocked her over and were trying to help her up.

That’s all this week.
Take care.

February 26, 2011

This week was Gracie’s Third Birthday! She had extra meat for dinner and salmon kibble and we sang Happy Birthday to her. She has never eaten so slowly!

Not having a great Birthday Shot of her . . .



Here is her REAL
Birthday Photo. She is Miss Red.

We received Birthday photos from others . . . (or stole from facebook!)



This is River Bear Sophie.
Her mom says she is a snow dog.
Her mom wants it to stop snowing.

This is River Bear Isabelle.
Looking so Happy!



We had visitors this week.
(no not the beaver, though he did show up)

Remember last September when we had 6 turkeys in the area?

They’ve done some multiplying.



We believe there are thirty-nine there, but there are more off to the right.



One flew up in a tree.
We think he was the lookout.



Then they headed towards the woods.



And disappeared.

Melanie was skyping with McKey (and that is so cool) when she saw a guy get out of his mini van, camera in hand, and started stalking over to our apple orchard.

The beaver discovered the apple trees again.
He can walk on the snow crust. So now our beaver brings camera bearing tourists.



There were new markings all over this tree.
It’s the only one he could reach.
At this point.

So Martha’s guys came over and helped out.

They dug around the tree and put up chicken wire.
Then they did something else.



Here they are getting Zoë to show her.



What?



They dug a huge moat around the smallest maple tree!

Thanks Guys!

Soon the snow will melt and our first fences will work against the beavers.



GO SPRING!

News from the Litters:

River Bear Joy (Grace and Jonah’s daughter) enjoys the beach.



Her family say she is a great joy!



She certainly looks like a beautiful lady!

That’s all for this week.
Take care.

February 19, 2011

We managed two whole days of Spring this week. Not together, of course, they were divided by snow, ice and freezing wind. But our twenty-four inches of snow in the front yard, is now down to twenty inches.



That is definitely not snow.



In our apple trees there was some red color!



Robins feasting on frozen apples.

So what has the Pack been up to?



Whoops, wrong Pack.
Zoë had a friend who went to Africa.
Wait just a second . . .



That’s the new Kindle.
It is now a drooled on and chewed up Kindle,
AND it still works.

Katy helped with that.

In the bad weather Ellie likes to curl up with her bone.



The rest of the Pack has been
repelling all boarders!!

Grace has taken it upon herself to be the look out.



It can be a tiring job.



She smells something.



She sends up the alarm!

That’s when Melanie interrupts her by calling from the upstairs window.



Huh?



Oh, there you are.
Melanie loves that dog.



Some of the Pack join Grace in watching and barking.
That’s Grace, Mac and Katy with Franklin asleep.



And there he is . . .
The Beaver.



He did this one day.
Oh, that’s right across the river behind the house.



And took it all down into that pond by the next.

We fear it is a dam, and this feud will continue through out Spring and Summer.

Don’t worry though, we have a way to get through this . . .



That’s all this week.
Take care.

February 12, 2001

THE WAIT

When Melanie got up this morning, there were no dogs in the house.
This is unusual.
Then she looked outside and saw the van was gone and dogs were waiting.



Zoë had gone to the dump.



That’s Rose at the top of the snow mound today.
Perhaps Zoë will come back from that way.



More of the Pack joins her.



It is a long wait.
(Not really but to the Pack a minute without Zoë is too long)



Zoë pulls up and the Pack disappears.



Now they are waiting for her inside.
(The dog room needs repainting.)



They think Zoë is the best hunter / gatherer around!

It’s been a long week of snow, ice, doctor and physical therapy appointments.

The Pack does not approve.
We should be home providing them with entertainment.

Random pictures from the week.

We had a high wind one night.
It cast branches down that pierced the ice like spears.



The Pack couldn’t get that out.
The rugs are there to keep from slipping on the ice.



An icicle that fell from the roof in front.
It’s about 8 inches in diameter.



Snuggly dogs with a toy.
That ‘s Ros in front and Katy behind her.

That’s all this week.
Hug your Newfoundland Valentine on Monday!
Take care.

February 5, 2011

Yesterday the sun shone! Maybe Phil the Groundhog will be right!
Melanie actually got to walk, cane at the ready, down the block.

We haven’t had this much snow for a few years.



From the bridge, looking up river.
Notice the beaver path at the top.

Yes, the beavers are still busy.



Not sure what they were doing here.
Someone thought they were doing some kind of circle dance.
We think they are plotting some dastardly deed.



Katy is “Queen of the Hill”.
She can see over the snow plowed fence this way.
Jesse has dug a moat on the inside of the fence to make sure the dogs don’t walk out.

Then the sun disappeared and the snow started up.

The white big blobs are actually snowflakes caught by the camera.



The Pack looking for something to bark at.



Who says you can’t teach a dog tricks?
The beavers are teaching the dogs to eat twigs.
Unfortunately, that’s Melanie’s pecan tree that Katy is munching on, while Gracie watches.
They usually can’t reach the limbs.



Well, nothing exciting is happening . . .



Grace guesses she’ll try a branch.

That’s all this week.
Keep warm and dry.
Take care.

January 29, 2011

First!
The Bane of our Existence!



No, not them, silly.



One of the Beavers!
This is our first glance of the beavers. We’ve seen their track, we’ve seen their destruction.

This one is across the river from the Stockade.
The Pack barked at him all day.
HE DID NOT CARE!
He is the size of a lab, but fatter.
You can see the stick he’s eating and he is sitting on his tail.

Enough of him, here is . . .
The Newf Pack in the Play Yard!



Franklin decorating the snow.



Rose eating undecorated snow.
Notice she does not have to bend down.
We have LOTS of snow.



Jesse has been doing the moat around the Play Yard side of the fence.
The road department keeps piling up snow on the road side of the fence.


The Question becomes . . .


To take the path?



Or to venture where no dog has stepped before?



Plenty of time for play though.



How can you resist a face like that?



After while the Newfs have to sit down and eat the snow that has gotten stuck on their feet.



The snow is always fresher on the other side of the fence.



The snow drifts are amazing.



Ellie coming through!



Newfs don’t need no stinking snow plows!



Grace taking a breather.



As our smallest Newf, Mattie prefers the paths.
She gets stuck in the drifts.

Then our Pack comes in and gets comfy . . .



For some reason,
Mac loves the walker.

That’s all this week.
Take care.

January 22, 2011

Snow, snow, snow, snow, snow . . .

Help! We’re buried under snow!



Jeez Louise!

To catch up . . .
Zoë went into the hospital with an abnormal EKG. It is called Tako Tsubo Syndrome because it makes your left ventricle look like a Tako Tsubo which is a Japanese octopus trap.
The docs say it’s due to stress . . .
Considering what she’s been through with hospitals and doctors and Dan, this is not a surprise!
She came home the day before Melanie went in to have her knee operated on.



These pearl like structures were causing the pain.
She grew them.
We always knew she was weird.

Dan came home on Tuesday, during a snowstorm turned ice storm.
He was coming home no matter what!

He’s doing well, he can do stairs, which is more than Melanie can do.
Melanie is taking high dosage drugs.
Which is why this log is short!

Some more snow pictures and then next week she promises more Newf pictures.
(Right now, the Newfs are not interested in having their pictures taken. They want to lick her knee.
All the time.



Yup, snow is a tad high.



By the river bank.

A snow heart for Bess.



That’s it for this week,
Melanie needs another nap.
Take care.

January 8, 2011



Patsy shows just how tired we are here!
(We love her nose.)

Dan is doing well in Rehab.
He’s coming home to the Pack on January 18th if everything continues to improve.
On the other knee . . .
Melanie will be out of commission because of knee surgery on the 14th.
So the next log will be January 22nd.
(She says she’s going to have computer withdrawal symptoms.)

Next
LOTS OF PICTURES!

First Christmas pictures.



Notice the Automatic Waterer under the tree.
Next summer that will be outside and hook up to the hose!



A dog toy.
Took 4 minutes to look like this.
Maybe the Pack didn’t like the song
“Rudolph the red nosed Reindeer.”



Speaking of reindeer,
Gertie and George in front of their tree.
They are from Gracie and Jonah’s litter.

We had snow after Christmas and then again last night.
Snow is pretty . . .





Hmm.
Are those tracks?



Yup, beaver track.
The Pack has been barking and barking and barking and barking and barking and barking.



The tree that shaded the Newfie Pool is gone.

Then this morning, more tracks across the river.



WE ARE TIRED OF BEAVERS!
They have destroyed a tree from a third neighbor.

Snow also means . . .



Play time!
The boys were having a great time.
Look at that play bow Franklin is doing, awesome.



You do not want to get near them when they are playing.
This is 310 pounds of muscle and bone moving fast!



Off they go.

A word about our dog door.
Our dog door works overtime.



It is a great piece of machinery.
Without it, we would have to get up seventeen million times a day to open or shut doors.



Katy saying thanks for the dog door.

Two more snow pictures . . .





And some more pictures of
Gertie and George.
Their friends sent them to make us smile.
We hope you will smile too.







HAPPY,SAFE, PROSPEROUS AND HEALTHY
NEW YEAR!

Take care and see you on January 22nd.

Wish to fly

December 27, 2010

First: Dan is out of the hospital (long story, hate some hospitalists, McKey is wonderful) and into Rehab. He now has an iPad and is having fun!

Second: We hope everyone had a great Holiday and wish everyone a Prosperous and Healthy New Year!

Third: A guest writer (Melanie, snicker) will entertain you with a short fictional story with illustrations. We hope you will enjoy.

Please check back on January 8th for the next log update.


A Wish To Fly
by
Melanie M. Montague


“What have we got here?” I asked the Ladies as we were driving by the old ski slope across the highway from our village. Their heads turned towards the action. Being nosy, I pulled in.
“What’s going on?” I asked the foreman as he walked over to the van. “The state hasn’t sold the property, has it?
“Ma’am . . .” and then his jaw dropped open.


I looked behind me. Two of the Ladies were looking out the front window. Huge black heads, with some gray or white around the jaw, tongues hanging out.
“What are those, Ma’am?”
I hate it when I’m called Ma’am. I’m eighty but give me a break. Western Massachusetts is not the South.
“Call me Kate, and they’re Newfoundlands.”
“I’ve never seen anything that big before that was still a dog. Their heads are huge. You sure they aren’t bears?”
I looked at my Ladies, Rose; seven years old, Mattie: eight, Patsy; ten and Bess; eleven. I used to raise Newfoundlands, but my joints couldn’t take the fifteen pound puppies anymore. We’re all retired now, my Ladies and me.
Bess stuck her head out the driver window asking to be petted. The foreman obliged.


“My smallest, Mattie, weights 115 pounds and Patsy, the biggest, weighs 135 pounds.”
He looked at me shocked. “How on earth do you handle these dogs, Kate? You’ve got to be . . .” There was silence.
I glared at him. He swallowed.
“I mean you aren’t very big?”
“Nice try young man. Yes, I’m old, but my Ladies are well behaved and old like me. Now, has the state sold out to that developer?”
The state hadn’t sold out. George, the foreman and now since he was petting any head that came to the driver’s window, best friend of the Ladies, explained they were taking the slope back to grassland for the hare and ground nesting birds. I hadn’t realized there was a shortage of them. He told me to keep coming by and watch the changes. I think he just wanted to see the dogs.
We did keep an eye on the work, stopping if we saw George. Now a fan of the Ladies, he always had a pocket full of treats for them. It was amazing what they were doing. Using chain saws, they cut the larger trees down, and with a huge lawnmower type machine took down the smaller trees and bushes. All the debris was tossed into a chopper. Very efficient. George wasn’t concerned about the stumps that were left, he figured they were a deterrent to the ATVs during the summer.
“You should walk your dogs over here, Kate. Once the grass takes hold, it will be a great place to run.”
“Neither the Ladies nor I can run or do hills,” I told him. “It’s also way too close to the road.”
George and his crew left to create grassland in another part of the state. The Ladies and I were left to our comfortable existence. After our morning walk and wade in the river, the Ladies stayed outside watching the world go by until five pm. They would occasionally stroll in to see what I’m up to and if it could possibly include making their dinner. As far as my Ladies are concerned dinner could be ready anytime, and this was something that they needed to check.
Ours is a quiet household most of the time, except in the winter when the snow plows come by. According to the Ladies, snowplows are just wrong. Like zebras on TV. When zebras come on the Animal Planet, I jump to change the channel. Much to the distress of the TV cabinet, the Ladies tell those zebras off. But other than zebras and snowplows, after five pm was our sofa time, with each lady taking a turn to get scratched.


Summer past into a beautifully colored fall. The leaves were gone by early October. In late October giggling Trick or Treaters got slobbered with kisses. In early November, it started snowing. Five inches on the ground. Everyone said it would melt. We got hit with another storm then another and another. By the middle of December we had three feet of snow on the ground and no melting in sight. The kids were delighted. Snow days abounded. Jesse, my neighbor’s son who helped me around the house, had to snow blow a moat next to the fence in the dogs’ play yard. The snow was deep enough that the Ladies could have walked right over the fence. Driving by the old ski slope I saw that some intrepid cross country skiers had cross hatched up to the middle of the slope and skied down.


As I sat with my Ladies that night, I remembered sledding down hills like that ski slope. I loved the feeling of flying as I came down. A few of the fathers in our neighborhood had a made a toboggan that could fit two people across and four in each row. With all the weight, it was very fast but safe. My mother liked that. I liked my Flexible Flyer. I was free from gravity on that sled. I trudged up the entire hill to the woods and start down. Sometimes flying through snow, sometimes with the whole universe blazing above me, flying towards the barrel of fire the men tended, flying towards the hot cocoa and cookies our mothers had made, but wishing I could take off into the heavens.
Now I couldn’t even walk up a hill.
I decided to write down my sledding memories and sent it to Yankee Magazine. Much to my surprise they published it, but more surprising I heard from George.
“Kate, how are you and those wonderful dogs?”
“The Ladies and I are just fine. What’s up?”
“I read your article about sledding and I’ve got an idea. Still have your sled?”
I roped in Jesse, and had him dig through the barn loft. I told him he could use it for the season if he found it and cleaned up the runners. But first, I got to use it.
He found the sled. It brought back even more memories. I had forgotten that I had scratched my name in the wood in the front. “Kate’s”. Jesse cleaned up the runners, replaced the rotted towing rope, and oiled the steering bar. I was set.


It was snowing the afternoon George came to pick me up. There was two inches of powder with a good hard surface under that. Roaring up on his snowmobile, he roused the Ladies from the sofa. They rushed outside to bark and then realized it was George with treats.
“Hey, Kate! You ready?”
“I’m windproof, waterproof and cold proof,” I replied. I said goodbye to the Ladies, got on the back of George’s machine and trailing my sled behind, we were off to the old ski slope. George’s plan was to take me up to the top and I’d come down on my own. I felt young.
We headed down the road next to the river. Quiet it wasn’t. It was beautiful. The river was almost frozen over. Snow was piled on rocks in the middle. The light was fading making a black and white world. As we turned by the only business in town, Brennan’s Irish Pub, a snow plow went by. On the dirt road that led to the iron bridge, so old it was now only good for walking, I noticed that Brennan’s trash cans were full and left right by the old road.
We went over the bridge. Now for the illegal part, to cross Highway 9 without the police seeing us. We made it and started up the slope.
Later I pieced together information from Jesse, the bus boy, Brennan’s owners and the police as to what my Ladies got up to.
The Ladies did not approve of my leaving on that big monster. I was supposed to be home on the sofa petting them. The snow plow that had passed us up the road, came closer to the fence than usual and created an avalanche of snow over the fence. Hearing the Ladies barking, Jesse came out just in time to see them break out.
Each of my Ladies is trained. Patsy is trained to pull a cart. Rose is a therapy dog and Bess and Mattie are both trained trackers. Jesse said Bess and Mattie put their noses down on the ground, searched a bit and then headed down the road. Patsy and Rose followed. Jesse tried calling the Ladies, but as he put it, they were on a mission. He got his bike and followed.
He watched the Ladies turn at Brennan’s and he sped up, skidding a bit when he took the turn. Then he heard the scream.
Newfoundlands are food motivated dogs.
Brennan’s bus boy came out to dump more of the trash and was met by four huge black beasts. “BEARS!” he screamed. He threw the garbage up in the air and ran for it.


Jesse said that Patsy, Mattie and Bess were feasting on the remains of pan-seared scallops, spaghetti, and bangers and mash, but Rose, being a Therapy dog, had decided that the bus boy needed therapy, jumped on him, rolled him over and was kissing him with slobbery licks. When Jesse called Rose, she went over to greet him and the disheveled bus boy ran into the pub, dialed 911 and started telling the police and the owners about the four rabid black bears outside waiting to kill people. The owners, hysterical, locked and barred the doors and windows, waited for the police and Animal control.
My Ladies were having a wonderful time. They rarely get such left overs. Jesse was trying to get them rounded up, when the town’s one police care and the Fish and Game truck with lights flashing and sirens blowing arrived at the pub. My Ladies remembered they were on a mission and disappeared across the bridge with Jesse trying to catch up. The Police and Game Warden started off in pursuit but had to take the long way around since the bridge wasn’t strong enough for cars.
When we reached the top of the hill, George turned the motor off. The quiet was amazing. The view was spectacular. The snow had stopped and the sky had cleared. My old friends, the stars, were dazzling. We looked down the hill at my village and noticed the police lights down by the pub.
“Guess someone got a little rowdy,” George said. “Kate, are you sure you want to start from up here? I could take you lower.”
I glanced at him and then looked down the slope. I knew I would never do this again. Why go for safe? “I’m fine, George.”
I dropped to my knees in the feathery snow next to my flexible flyer. Slid onto the sled. I dug in my toes. I grabbed the rope and put it under my body so it wouldn’t get caught under the runners and slow me down. I lifted my toes up and dug my gloved hands in. I slid myself forward, backward, forward and I was off.
I had forgotten the bite of wind. I squinted my eyes against it and then I didn’t feel my body at all. All my old age pains were gone. My sled changed direction with just a thought from me. I felt my body moving with the sled, angling this way and that. I didn’t do a straight downward approach, I went from one side of the slope to the other. Everything was happening so fast, but at the same time seem to stand still. I looked to the stars. I was flying.
About half way down the hill, I looked ahead. The trees were blurs to either side. I noticed flashing lights coming from the highway. George, on his machine, appeared out of nowhere on the other side of the slope going straight down. I continued. I couldn’t stop at that point. Breaking something was not in my plan. Three quarters of the way down, my eyes showed blurry flashing lights at the bottom of the hill. George was already there.
I flashed by a huge group of people, scattering them like I used to scatter our parents when coming down the hill. I eased to a stop and rolled off the sled. I was suddenly engulfed in tongues, black fur and worried dogs.
I heard George. “What the hell are you doing? Those are her dogs.”
I pushed large heads out of the way and saw Tom, our policeman and a Game Warden headed towards me in crouched positions with their guns pointed at my Ladies.
“Tom, what the heck do you think you’re doing? You know me and my dogs. You put that gun away right now, or I’m going to tell your mother.” This was no idle threat - Tom’s mother was an avid member of the Poodle Rescue Organization and would fry him up for breakfast if he hurt a dog.
“Now , Miss Kate, I didn’t know it was you. We had a call about four rabid bears and I had to check it out.”
Jesse ran up to me and helped me up through the Ladies. He whispered, “The Ladies got into the Pub’s trash and scared the busboy.” I dusted myself off.
The Game Warden stepped in all officious. “Ma’am . . .”
“Call me Kate.”
“Ma’am.” Even stuffier than the first time he said it.
“Sir?” I replied. The crowd of extras started to chuckle. I looked around and saw a lot of my neighbors who must have been having dinner at Brennan’s and decided to come along for fun.
“Are you aware that your dogs have been loose, as a pack, and have done damage to a place of business and threatened a person?
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I’m going to take you in and your dogs will have to go to the pound . . .”
My neighbors started making nasty comments to the Warden. The busboy said, “I didn’t get threatened by no dogs, it was bears. You can see these aren’t bears.”
The pub crowd agreed.
The Game Warden started forward, Tom caught his arm, but he shook him loose.
Then George said, “It couldn’t have been these dogs, officer. They’ve been pulling my snow mobile.”
George gestured down at the dogs next to me. He had tied each dog to his machine so they would fan out in front.


The Warden looked at George and snarled, “You don’t need dogs to move that thing.”
“They don’t know that,” said George.
We were let go. The crowd walked us back to the pub, pushing the machine, laughing and kicking up snow. My Ladies walked out in front, leading the way. On the back deck, next to the outdoor fireplace, we had Irish coffee and cake. Bess, Patsy, Mattie and Rose were well rubbed and fell asleep. I leaned back and looked at the stars.



Thank you, Bess.

December 19, 2010

Champion River Bear Elizabeth T.
“Bess”
2001 - 2010

It is with very heavy hearts that we say goodbye to one of the River Bear Pack.

Zoë helped Bess in every way she could so that Bess would still be with us when Dan comes home from the hospital.
But it was not to be.

Bess was a Miss Red in our first litter.
She squeaked.
She squeaked all her life.
When she was happy, or hungry, or wanted attention, that little squeak would just coming out of nowhere.



Bess hiding under her mother, Jamielee.
She stopped hiding.
She loved to show off.



Here she is with her show handler Kathy Kalos. Bess, thanks to Kathy, earned her Championship before she was two.




Bess did well in the Breed ring at Westminster.
(Yes, that Westminster)
We were very proud.

Bess had her first of two litters of puppies in 2004.



She loved having puppies.
She did not like to share her chewies.



She would sit in the tub so her puppies couldn’t get her when she had had enough.



Bess was a model for Rob’s art work.



Pen and Ink Cross Hatching

Bess had many hobbies.



Watching TV.



Swimming
Bess is pulling McKey across the river.



She was a great swimmer.



As she grew older it was more difficult to take a bad picture of her.
She was so beautiful.





Well, perhaps not all the time.

She loved the snow.





She would sit out in the stockade, barking at the world, happily becoming a Landseer.

Bess was the Queen of the Pack.
This last summer she would be outside and the other dogs would play and then make sure she was okay.





Another of Bess’s hobbies was yoga sleeping.



She loved to go in the van on the Walk / Runs.



Even two weeks ago, she was there.

Bess hadn’t been moving very much the last four days.
Mostly snoozing.
All the dogs came up and would lick her, but it was her grand daughter Amazing Grace, the one puppy who inherited Bess’s squeak, who took care of her.
Gracie slept next to Bess, offered her toys and lots of kisses.



Even today when Zoë was getting the dogs ready to go up to the camp, Bess tried desperately to get up and go with them.

A special friend to Dan,
Zoë’s shadow,
Queen of the Pack,
Bess will be missed.

We know that she will be doing
Homeland Security
for River Bear Newfoundlands
where ever she is.



Thank you Bess.



December 11, 2010

Another difficult week for Dan. Monday he ended up in the hospital again. The “cloud” the x-rays were showing turned out to be (technical term by doc) gunk. To begin with surgery was the last thing on the list they were going to do. The next day, as tests started to return, it became first. As in “WE MUST DO THIS NOW”; a bit disconcerting to hear from the docs.

Dan had the operation, they physically removed the gunk (believe us you don’t want to know how they did it) and now the antibiotics can get where they are needed and work.

Which IF THE FIRST HOSPITAL HAD DONE THIS THE WAY THEY SHOULD HAVE, Dan wouldn’t be having the trouble now. But, on the other hand, who knows how they would have screwed the operation up. Besides they lost all the gunk they took out. ..”A funny thing happened on the way to the lab...”


Just heard from the good doctor.
He called Dan a
ROLLS-ROYCE 81!


The Newfs are having a blast. .

Here is a grand picture of Mac.



When Dan was having his operation,
Jesse (our go-to guy) played with the Pack.



New toys.



Jesse has 2 large birds.
He was not a ‘dog guy’ until Eleanor trained him.
He calls her “Princess”.



Rosie takes the rooster and heads for clear ground.



Hmm. No one chasing her.
She needs someone to chase her.



Franklin obliges.
(That’s Ros in front)



Franklin got it, Rose wants it back.



Katy joins in with a sneak attack.



Now it’s Rose, Franklin and Katy.



Oh, oh, something is beginning to get really stretched . . .



Frank has the leg and Rose has the rest.
Poor rooster.



Planning an attack.



Patsy inviting Katy to play.



Fuzzy but cute.



Now Grace has it and Patsy wants it.



Rose is still looking for someone to play with.



Finally!



Camera not fast enough but really funny face.



Our majestic Franklin.



Our exhausted Franklin.

Pictures of River Bear Sage (called Sageji boy!) with his brother HoneyAngel



What cutie pies!



Awesome.



He has Big Dog Attitude.
(What he doesn’t realize is the Corgi is herding him right where he wants him.)

That’s all this week.
Keep your tails and paws crossed for Dan,
Take care.

December 5, 2010

The snow flurries are being caught in the sun, floating up then down with flashes of brilliant light. Waxing poetic, here!

Dan is home from the hospital. It appears that he did too much and set back his recovery a bit. He is now on an upward swing again.

As promised . . .

NEWFOUNDLAND PICTURES!

Getting ready for the walk/run.



Do not try to clean your computer screen.
That is the windshield of the van.



Waiting . . .



is difficult!



There is something about the grass up there that is extra good.



Hunting season for deer and turkey right now.
Those are not flotation vests.
Those are hunter red!



As we said the grass is really good.



Swimming!
Know of anyone who can build us a pond?
Zoë wants one.



On this trip the five lucky dogs were . . .
Mac, Franklin, Rose, Grace and Ros.



Franklin waiting for Zoë to join him.
He does not know the word “cold”.



Rose on left, Frank on right.



Not a big pond, but just the right size.

Melanie found some ribbon and decorated Patsy.



Patsy is a good sport.

The most coveted spot in the house?



The Family Room fire place.
That’s Bess.

Remember that cute pup, Delilah, from last week? Here are some more pictures of her and her Aunt River Bear Newfoundland’s Maddie.





Maddie was our first Irish Spotted Puppy;
Patsy’s only one.
Then Grace, another of Patsy’s daughters, had seven!

That’s all this week,
Take care.

November 29, 2010
Just a quick update. Dan went in the hospital on Saturday and is coming home today. They still are not sure what’s up, but he is feeling better.

Thanksgiving was great. The Pack got a lot of leftovers.

Melanie took pictures of her guys and Loved Ones.

Rob and Andrea
We celebrated their Engagement!



And McKey and Christina.



She is wonderful.
Not sure about McKey.

We wouldn’t leave you without a picture of a Newf.

Here is River Bear Delilah
(Lilah)
From Gracie’s last litter.





You’ll see more of her and her buddy coming up this weekend.

Take Care!

November 21, 2010

Jeez, Melanie decided, for some unknown reason, to bring back cold germs from the doctors visit last week. That meant she was mostly out of commission and because she loves to share, Zoë got it the day after she did and Zoë was mostly out of commission.

Melanie did remember a story from the week because turns out Gracie has Mac’s (her dad) sense of humor.

Melanie was sitting at the computer (a given here) and there was barking, then muffled barking, then barking, then muffled barking, then barking . . you get the idea.

Thinking it might have something to do with the beavers, she walked out to the dog room to see if she could see anything from the stockade.

Gracie was lying in front of the dog door watching Mac try to get in. Now this is a Mac trick, though he at least pretends to be asleep. Not our Gracie, she just watched him stick his head in and get stuck, barking at her, and then try to get it back out (that was the muffled barking). Gracie was just wagging her tail the whole time. She was having a blast.

When I told her she needed to move, her look was, “Aw, do I gotta?”

Seems Mac can’t take what he dishes out!

Pictures!

After looking in the camera, we could tell we were tired.
The pictures are of the dogs sleeping. . .



We have new red curtains instead of the green.
Bess still likes to sleep with them over her.



This is Ros having done the rare curtain twist before she slept.



Bess had been wearing the curtains as a veil and when we got the camera she decided they made a good train.
She really is Empress of the House.



Newfs can really sleep.



Melanie, while looking at Bess, said,
“If I did that, you’d have to call the ambulance, because my body just doesn’t twist that way anymore.”



Sleeping with a buddy.
That’s Frank and Ros.
They almost fit.

Now news from Melanie’s litter: (Snicker)

McKey’s latest play Reservoir (written by E.H. Sanders) received good reviews. It is about a soldier coming home with PTSD. McKey does not play a nice guy.

The photo was taken by Jonathan Staff.
McKey Carpenter as the Staff Sergeant and Amanda Dillard as Marisa.



nytheatre.com review: “. . the charming Sergeant, played by McKey Carpenter . . The scene in which the Sergeant confronts the Therapist about sending Frank back to combat is without a doubt the most engaging in the production, and their conversation about Frank’s predicament, in which the Sergeant yells ‘I wish he HAD lost an arm or a leg–then no one would be questioning sending him home with pay!,’ highlights the tragic Catch-22 of soldiers with PTSD presented in this production.”

It’s like winning Best of Breed!

It’s getting time for those Holiday Gifts!



That’s Andrea Gianchiglia (Rob’s Fiancee, can’t say it enough!) with a portrait of a Newfoundland some of you might have known.
That is Nashau-Auke’s Atticus.

If you are looking for a commissioned piece of work here’s her web site.
www.agillustration.com

Also Rob and Andrea have a cafepress on-line store where you can find images that can be put on tee-shirts, mugs, bags, all sorts of stuff.
They call it Loma-Land Designs.
www.cafepress.com/agillustration

That’s it for our shameless promotion!
Also for the week!

HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING!!
When Eleanor was 3 mos old she stole the turkey carcass!

November 14, 2010

Lots of pictures and stories today! Humans first though.

Dan is doing great, getting stronger every day. He was able to walk down the block yesterday. He got to sit on our neighbor’s bear bench. Always a plus.

Melanie now has a name for what’s going on in her knee. Synovial chondromatosis! The doc thought she was a bit weird because she laughed and was happy. Her thought? It might be a rare disease, but it can be fixed! He also didn’t understand she was joking about the floating bodies in her knee were probably Alien Technology micro chips. He just got a strange stuffed look on his face and nodded. Oh, well.

Now the Dogs!!!

The Pack is doing great.



Mattie doing couch yoga.



Franklin doing his impression of a lap dog.

Now Bess, though she is nine, still has a great sense of humor.

First she went over to the Family room door and wore the curtain like a veil. She kept it up until everyone noticed her.
Then she decided to go to sleep.



Zoë gave the Pack some marrow bones outside.
They loved them, but sometimes the small pebbles stick to the bones.

Franklin took off one of the rugs from the fence ate his bone off of that, and Ros used a stuffed polar bear.



Martha (Dan and Zoë’s other daughter) came by last Sunday and Melanie was able to go with Zoë on the walk/run.



That’s Katy tracking something.



That’s Ellie catching up to the rest of us.



Ros (in front) and Katy zoom by.

There is a small swimming hole.



That’s Patsy swimming.
(That in itself is amazing, usually she just wades.)



That’s Ellie considering her options.
Hard to believe she is eleven.



Bess has a great time.
You can see why we don’t take them out even in their orange vests during the week.
Some hunter would think, “Hey, look at that, someone put an orange vest on a bear.”



Ros exploring.



Bess eating grass.



Patsy and her daughter Katy find something worth sniffing.



Katy spends ninety percent of her time running.



Ellie spends ninety percent of her time strolling.

It was a wonderful beautiful day.

The next day looked like this. . .



The car and van doors were iced shut.



Part of the Pack waiting for Zoë to return.

The snow and ice lasted two days on the ground.
Melanie realized, because of the snow, she could see the beaver path.



That’s across the river.

Melanie also found a cardinal in the upper left of that photo.
She was able to grab the next photo before it flew away.



She also found track at the bottom of the beaver path but . .



Is it the beavers or that big whopping turkey gobbler they saw the day before?

Melanie and Patsy now have a retractable leash. This lets Melanie have a friend to walk with. Patsy can go up and come back and sniff things and catch up as Melanie limps along. On yesterday’ stroll, it was
62 degrees here, the sun was shining but the road through the woods was a bit cool.
As Patsy and Melanie came back, the moon was out, the horses were snickering in their field, when out of the woods came the sound of bag pipes. Awesome. Also, who ever it was, was good which is a good awesome. Because if the bag pipes are played not so good it can be awesomely terrible.
Patsy just stopped, stared up into the woods and they listened.
“Tis a Gift to Be Simple” was the song.
One of Melanie’s favorites.


News from the Litters:

This is the first time our puppies have been the source of a money pool at the vet's. This was sent from one of our puppy owners to another who had to “one up her.” This is about Sophie . .

If you hear about a big black dog being murdered in town, I confess I am guilty. Just when I think she is maturing, she goes back a step.  I was upstairs getting dressed and I heard a different noise. Well the brand new bag of flour that was inside another bag on the counter is no more.  It was all over the counter,  floor and now we have a black and white Newfoundland.  Just what I needed to do this morning is clean 5 pounds of flour off the floor mixed with dog slime.   When I left her snout and nose is still all white, oh well it will eventually come off.
 
What a morning!

Then Sullivan and Sawyer’s owner wrote her back.

I can one up you…..when Sullivan did the same thing, he had just come inside from the rain.  He was soaked to the skin.  I went to get a towel and he found the flour first.  Paper mache newf.   That all I can say.
 
Yesterday Sullivan and/or  Sawyer ate a bar of soap in its entirety.  I called the vet and tried to hide who I was talking about.  They laughed and said they had a “money pool” going as to which one it was.  I have to call them back today after I check the back yard to let them know who the winner is!  And this is why you should never have two males close in age.  Its called the conspiracy theory!
 
I still blame Zoe.

And then added . .


I forgot to tell you…….hide the sugar.  Wet dog + sugar = candied newf.  Yes he did that too.

Laughing a lot here!

George and Gertie’s owners wrote and sent pictures!

George and Gertie are both doing well, and they definitely know their place... everywhere!

Gertie continues to amaze us with how smart she is and George, well, he is just so darn cute!    Both have such wonderful personalities.

I've attached some photos taken about a week ago (you are, of course, welcome to publish if you want).

Hope all is well.  Glad to hear good news of Dan each time I visit your site.



Four cutie bugs!



That couch is perfect for taking Newfoundlands’ portraits!

Luna’s owner took her to the beach!



This looks like a painting! Perhaps called . .

“Where’s the Newfoundland puppy?”



There she is!

That’s all this week.
Take care.

November 6, 2010

Melanie went to the camera and NO PICTURES of Newfoundlands! (Don’t worry previous puppy pictures and e-mails arrived!)

But why NO pictures of Newfs?

Because we had another

BEAVER ATTACK!

The Pack had been barking around 3:30 or 4:00 am and Zoë was yelling at them to be quiet and got them inside.
Big mistake . .

Melanie got up around 7 am, opened her shades and realized that we had been ROBBED!



That was a twenty foot, 12 inch in diameter Maple tree in the front yard and those branches are all that’s left of it!

Just gone. Nothing. Kaput.

Melanie went looking down the cliff to see if she saw anything of it. All she saw was another tree that had been eaten.




Zoë and Melanie went out and put more fencing around the peach tree (excellent peaches this year), the other small Maple tree, and the rare variegated Maple in the front of the house.
(Later, we noticed that we used muscles that have not been used for awhile.)

However, our burglary was nothing compared to our neighbor’s who lost ten trees the same night!



He doesn’t mind because the beavers cleaned out an area where he’s been wanting the trees down.
Now he can see the river.
NOW, if we hear the dogs bark early in the morning, we are opening the gate to the Puppy Play yard.
That happened this morning and the Beavers only ate a little bit of one tree.

Zoë took a picture of our van this week.
Remember the picture of the Newfs in a very pretty Maple tree?
Well, that tree decided to lose all it’s leaves in one night.



Amazing.

For those of you not in the ‘know’ Rob (Melanie’s oldest son) has proposed! We are going to have an “in-law”. Melanie is very excited.

Andrea Gianchiglia is wonderful!
She is a grand artist.
www.agillustration.com

This is one she just sent to us.



Wow.

News from the Litters!

(Jane, as much as we loved, the picture of Roger and Merlin, we just couldn’t put it up. snicker)

River Bear Apollo & Diana (Jonah and Katy’s pups)

Just a quick note to tell you how wonderfully Apollo & Diana are doing on their first birthday: you'll be able to see it for yourself this weekend, when I hope to have new pictures to send. 

They've grown wonderfully while remaining at their perfect weight, have gorgeous coats & features, are infinitely sweet-tempered & loyal & eager to please & loving. They're also thick as thieves as each other's companions; you can imagine what a joy it is to us to watch them time & again running up & down the meadows chasing after each other. Their favorite activities in early autumn have been to gorge on apples from a huge tree we have on the lower meadow, as well as on acorns & nuts falling out of trees -- activities for which they must vie with the other four dogs, but they all get along brilliantly.

I couldn't begin to tell you how pleased we are to have had them join our little pack. We find it hard to leave the property, because who wants to be apart from them? They're truly a joy all around.





River Bear Isabelle and Molly (Isabelle and Mollie are cousins!)

Hi Riverbear!! Hope everyone is doing well and the dogs are taking good care of Dan.
 
Thought you might like to hear that Molly passed Obedience One on Monday night. She was one of the best in class and the trainer said she saw some real potential in her. I am going to hold her to that especially when Molly barks at me for my food.... the one thing we haven't been able to stop. She will be starting round 2 of school in the near future. Molly is settling in though and still follows Isabelle around much to Isabelle's despair... she is always trying to get some alone time and her beauty sleep. They do enjoy their twice daily walks to patrol the neighborhood together. They must be doing a good job at that because I heard more than once on Halloween the parent whispering "This is the house with the 2 huge black dogs". The kids just call it Isabelle's house.
Molly is quite the cuddle bug and needs lots of love - much different than her big sister. She has also already trained Jack to feed her from his highchair so she has a great fondness for cheerios and chicken nuggets.  Both dogs are really great with Jack. He has really taken interest in them lately giving them hugs, tackles and fur grabbing love. They just lay there and take it all and give him a few licks in return. I often wonder what he is thinking when he is looking at these 2 huge dogs???
 
well a few pictures of the crew. Enjoy! I am sure I will be back to share a story of Molly stealing the turkey this year.... she is one big food hound. wish us luck!



Halloween!



Puppy Love.



I will follow you where ever you go!

That’s all this week.
Take care.

October 30, 2010

Happy Halloween!

And you know with our crowd there will be a trick.

Dan is getting stronger, not as fast as he would like, but he is getting stronger. He’s very sore from the fall he took at the Rehab place, but the x-rays show nothing cracked or broken.
He’s just VERY sore.

The Pack is having a wonderful time.
Zoë and the Pack have discovered a swimming hole at the new walk/run place. They are in heaven.

Melanie is going to try to get out there with Zoë and the Pack this week to take some pictures.

Speaking of pictures!

We have a beautiful Maple tree in the front yard and Zoë took a picture of it.



Nice.
Melanie thought she saw something in it, and checked it later in the week.

Our dogs LOVE bones.



They love them so much, they don’t even notice when they are getting sat on, or that they are sitting on someone else.

Dingle’s Wee Bit of Blarney and River Bear Franklin’s
daughter Cleo was all dressed up for Halloween and her friend sent us her picture!



A Newfoundland Butterfly!

Remember when Melanie thought she saw something in that tree?
Well, from her window this is what she saw. .


Trick or Treat!


Those silly dogs!

But they always come back for a treat!



That’s all this week.
Have a save and fun All Hallows Eve!

October 23, 2010

Dan is home; the entire Pack is together again. We are happy!

We are not happy with the care given to him at Baystate and are writing letters to the hospital: the President of the hospital, the Director of Nursing, the Patient Advocate Committee, and the Massachusetts Surgeon General. If you think of anyone else who should receive this letter, just let us know.

Dan is getting stronger everyday. His doc says his heart is excellent, his lungs are clear and we’re working on regulating his blood pressure.

And in the midst of it all are the dogs!!
This week:

Random Pictures of the Pack



Zoë kept thinking she would get to grooming the dogs.
Wishful thinking.
Here’s Mattie after her puppy trim from the groomer.



An un-groomed, as yet, yoga master Bess.



This sofa and the stuffed Dalmatian dog are the favorites of the Pack.
This is Franklin taking a nap.
He takes up a bit more space than Mattie.



Of course, getting off the sofa can be a bit of a problem.
That’s a trimmed Mac saying,
“Heck no, I’m not moving.”



Drool in the sunlight.

Mac is just a different kind of dog.



Dan was eating.
Mac decided to try the walker.

Hopefully things will begin to calm down here.
Take care.



October 16, 2010

Yesterday was a very busy day. We are scrubbing the house to get ready for . . .

Dan coming home tomorrow!

So here is the blog today . . .

First, Melanie was chasing a rainbow today. . . Literally!
The dogs had fun, Melanie got wind blown, the camera got wet . .



Cool.
What a great way to start the day.

The idea of the types of photos for this week started with the following.



Pecan leaf shadows on Katy.

So Melanie took close up pictures of Newfs.



Windblown Ros



A nice muzzle.



Bess’s eyelashes.



Someone’s nose.



Rosie’s been drooled.



Mac’s cute tongue.



Tails from Homeland Security!



They told that cyclist off!

We have people stop and go by again just to see the dogs come out and bark. Cars, trucks, cyclists, bikers, people training for cross-country skiing, thanks all for making our dogs bark.

That’s all this week.
Next week, DAN’S HOME!
Take care.

October 18, 2010

The ongoing saga of Dan.
So Far:
The hospital took 2 quarts of liquid from around his lungs.
They then lost it before they could do the labs.
They have left him in the bathroom for over 20 minutes with no help even though he was pulling the string.
There was a fire on his ward and though the patients were aware of what was going on, no communication from staff to the patients was given. His door was shut.
After his third room move, he was unable to turn on his lights because the string was too short. When he asked for a longer string, he was told he couldn’t have one, and they attached gauze.
They forgot to give him dinner last night. He did finally eat after many phone calls.
We would try to get him a patient’s advocate, but no one answers the phone. Ever. And they play bad music.
Today we are planning his escape from the hospital back to Rehab. We are thinking of the entire Pack being let loose in the ward. Telling Rose to “fetch the doctors”. We’re betting we can get quite a few that way.

On a lighter note . .

Our dogs love raw pumpkin . .

We have a few pumpkins around.



One started to have a bad spot. We cut the bad spot out and chopped the pumpkin up and threw the chunks in the play yard.



The milling about begins. .



Grace takes her piece away.



That looks far enough to keep it safe while she eats it.
Notice Grace has a skinny tail.
Her fur hasn’t come in since having the puppies.



Rose got a piece.



Ros is taking hers to the house. Little does she know we locked the dog door.



Patsy is making sure no one comes near her piece.

Don’t worry. If they didn’t get a piece of pumpkin, we gave them yellow squash. We had a LOT of yellow squash.

OH!

Zoë had a birthday this week.
Well, she had an un-birthday this week.
She doesn’t like how this year went; so she’s hitting the reset button.

That’s all this week.
Take Care.

October 2, 2010

You know that bed bugs are becoming quite a problem through out the United States. We don’t have bed bugs. Think bigger.

You know that mice can become a problem for people. We don’t have mice. Think bigger.

You know that rats can become a problem for people, especially when you live near a river. We don’t have rats. Think bigger.

Have an idea? These might help.





We have beavers. Also a problem if you live near a river.

We’ve never had a problem with the beavers, they‘ve always been on their side of the river and we stay on ours.
So now we have to put a wire mesh around the trees to save them.
Thank goodness for nephews and grandchildren.
One more night and the beavers would kill all our apple trees.

Dan won’t be home on Zoë’s birthday. Had a small set back and has pneumonia, but not a lot. We just want him to come home, but right now it would be too difficult for him.

Melanie has discovered she has floating bodies in her knee! That’s why it hurts. She has to see another doctor. So far, the list of what those floating bodies are consists of: zombies, small humans swimming, goldfish, Alien chip technology (X-Files) and Newf hair. Zoë thinks that Newf hair is a big possibility.

We have pictures of growing up pups!!! Always makes our days when they come in the e-mails!

Murphy is doing great. I am sure he is missing his pack, but he seems to be getting comfortable. Such a sweet boy!  He especially loves Kyle and it is mutual.

He had his check with the vet today and weighed in at 19.7lbs. She gave us puppy heartworm meds and Frontline. We should hear whether or not he is the one with worms over the next day or so.  I will let you know.  And, of course, Kyle went along on the vet trip and has taken on the role of Murphy's health advocate




River Bear Murphy



River Bear Diesel



River Bear Shaq (He and Diesel are cousins and live together)


And Now

The Irish Spotted Duo...



I've never known a breed with more character!

George and Gertie continue to grow - each upwards of 30 pounds when they visited the vet recently, with George weighing ~ 3 pounds more than Gertie.  Their personalities continue to grow also - they are such loving, compassionate pups.  Our girls love rolling around on the floor with them, and they love climbing all over the girls and licking their faces.  Gertie has established 'her spot' on the living room sofa; although, George continues to alert us whenever she climbs up there.  They've also both learned to climb into Abigail and Madison's beds (and everyone is always happy when they do).

Jody has been spending time each day training the pups, the rest of us participate when we can on the weekends.  They are almost housebroken - George hasn't had an accident in several days, Gertie trails him but usually tries.  They also are good about walking with us, coming when called, and staying when told (as long as the stay doesn't last very long).

Gertie continues to establish herself as the alpha dog.  George generally follows her lead.  However, he has his own mind when it comes to water play.  We had a heavy focus on teaching them to come when called because George kept running down to prance around in the water at the lake's edge.  He loves getting his paws wet...he even prances around getting his paws in the water bowl on a regular basis (poor Gertie sits and whimpers by the bowl to get clean water after George has his romp).

I've attached a couple of photos for you (Gertie on Left and George on Right in both).  One is a shot of them 'staying' (not their favorite thing to do), the other is of them licking each others face after breakfast this morning.  They clean each other up after each meal (something I have never seen with other dogs but appreciate and encourage knowing what will remain from a meal once their jowls are fully developed).





What wonderful puppies!

That’s all this week,
Take Care.

September 24, 2010

Melanie goes to the camera and there’s one picture. What’s up with that?

Well, it’s been an interesting two weeks.

Dan is now in Rehab in Ludlow, MA after the last operation which was some sort of lesion from the appendicitis. Then he got pneumonia. Zoë is a tiger. She got everyone on the ICU pulling for Dan and it was great. He is doing well, they have him standing while playing scrabble. He was able to stand for fifteen minutes while playing. Melanie thought that was amazing, because she can’t play scrabble at all, much less standing to do it.

Dan is walking and getting stronger. Thanks for all the thoughts, vibes and prayers.

The thing is the rehab place is 90 minutes away. So when Zoë or Martha goes it’s a whole day trip.

Melanie stays with the dogs. They are on her bad list right now.

For those of you who don’t know our set up here, there is a play yard which is lower than the rest of the property. There is a fence around 3/4 of the yard and it backs up to a five and a half feet high stone wall.

Things to know: Over the last eleven years the ground has pushed about five feet of the wall out just a bit.

AND

These things have been around.




First time we noticed the flock in the apple orchard.



A flock of five turkey hens have taken over the neighborhood.
We’ve been enjoying the sightings.

THEN

Tuesday, Zoë was visiting Dan and Melanie was “home alone” with the ten idiots, oh excuse us, dogs.

Mattie started barking in the play yard. This continued. Melanie looked up the street, down the street, no people walking or biking, no trucks, no dogs, nothing. She brought Mattie in. Ten minutes later Mattie is barking again. Nothing again. She brings Mattie in. This continues for hours. The other dogs did NOTHING!

Then Mattie started barking hysterically at the stone wall. The rest of the Pack charge out of the house, down into the play yard. Melanie gets there just in time to see three dogs climbing the wall and disappearing. In a calm, fun, and happy voice, Melanie calls the dogs in for treats. One of the wall climbers comes back down and seven of the Pack come up (Ellie was asleep in the house) and Melanie locks them in the Stockade and starts to find the missing two.

Gracie and Rose are having a wonderful time down the twenty foot drop to the river. They are snuffling in bushes, digging into puddles and splashing in the river. In a calm, fun and happy voice, Melanie says, “Come, you idiots, come on up!”

HA! They go down to the lower gate.

Right now Melanie is having to use a cane to walk. By the time she gets to the lower gate, they are at the upper gate. By the time she gets back to the upper gate, they are at the lower gate. Melanie begins to think that her tail is getting pulled.

So when they get to the lower gate, again, she says, in a calm, fun and happy voice “Stay, you insufferable nut cases!”

Rose stayed. Grace (who’s in heat, very in heat) leaves. Melanie gets to the gate and opens it.

Now while reading the log, you might get the impression that Rose does not have a job. That is not true. Rose will find dogs. In fact, if you tell Rose to find a particular dog, she will find that dog.

Grace is now gone, Melanie can not hear or see her, and tells Rosie to go find Grace.

She does and brought her back! Melanie called and Grace told Rosie that they should go swimming under the bridge. Melanie can’t get there from where she is, so she goes upstairs, gets through the rest of the Pack. “My door, my door,” gets the van keys, goes outside, starts the van, starts backing up and here come the two idiots to go for a ride.

Their ride lasted one minute.

Zoë arrived five minutes later.

The wall is now unclimbable!



Yup, they should hid their faces!

That’s all this week,
Take care.

September 10, 2010

Dan is progressing nicely. He has been upgraded to Progressive Care still in Critical Care, but not as near the nurses. He is doing PT and beginning to sit up in a chair. Thank you for all your support and prayers.

It’s been very busy around here, and when Melanie went to visit Dan, Zoë decided to take pictures of the gardens while she was watering. Watering is necessary. Our river looks more like a river of boulders and rocks rather than a river of water.



The front of the house.



The door to the Puppy Apartment.



Zoë’s sunflowers.



More sunflowers.



These are cool.
They are different colors.



This is Melanie’s four foot square garden.
Squash on the left (keeps giving and giving).
Pickles next, the sad looking one was full of peas and the right has two pepper plants. They are just coming in with peppers.



We planted this tree seven years ago; it was one foot tall.
The fence it’s next to is 6 feet tall.



Zoë’s tomatoes.
If they don’t start turning red soon, we’ll be having fried green tomatoes.

Of course, at our house, the dogs have to help.



Patsy making sure that Zoë’s watering correctly.



Newfs on patrol.

Melanie came home one day to this.



This is Ros in one of the puppies’ toys.



Reminds of us of that Chinese finger toy.



Grace posing.

Having Newfoundlands there are always new experiences.
It’s been very hot and we have LOTS of water out for the dogs.



And there is more outside.
Do they want those?

No.



All ten drink out of the ONE bowl in the family room that is there for Bess and Ellie.

Jeez.

Mattie felt she wasn’t getting enough attention.



She gets on the dryer next to the door.
That way she gets petted every time someone goes through the door.

We heard from Miss Pink’s family from Gracie’s litter!
Her name is Joy.



We feel so lucky to have Joy in our life. She is the sweetest dog one can dream of. She adapts to new environment, people and experience very well. She is a love magnet where ever we go .  She even stops traffic!  Star  should be her middle name.
All of our thoughts of support.


That’s all this week.
Take care.

September 3, 2010

Forgive the shortness of the log entry. Dan is not doing well; we are in a time of waiting to see what will happen. The doctors have not given up hope and knowing what a fighter Dan is, we are praying and hoping for the best.

Here are two pictures . .

Bess, one of our oldest
(the cane is Melanie’s)



Here is Grace, our youngest with the puppy that was picked up last.
His name is now Sawyer, as in Tom!



Grace really enjoyed having less than twelve puppies.
She got to play with them more.

Take care and think of Dan.

August 25, 2010

All the puppies have gone to the new families. Pictures of the happy pups in a moment.

We were taking a rest and getting Dan back to great health, and we’ve had a set back.

Dan is back in the hospital. His heart is fine. This time his intestine has a kink in it. They are hoping not to operate and so are doing a procedure that will take a couple of more days. Not going into details (you don’t want us to, believe it). So hopefully, the log will be back in the works September 3rd.

Now some puppy pics!

Mr. Orange
Now Riley!







Mia



Miss White
Bailey (as in Irish Creme)







Murphy






George and Gertie





Molly
(Jack is the two-legged one and Isabelle, the large Newf, is Molly’s aunt)










Luna







Sage
And his corgi sister HoneyAngel





We have to say this was the smilingest bunch of pups we’ve ever seen!

Take care until September 3!



August 6, 2010


Dan is coming home today.
We are tired from getting ready.
So today’s log?
Just pictures!

It was hot and this is water play with puppies.









































































And a robin watches overall.

The pups begin leaving this weekend.
A sad time for that, but a happy time that Dan is back home.
Take care.

July 31, 2010

Whew, what a week. Dan is now in cardio REHAB! He’s in HealthSouth Hospital in Ludlow, MA. This means he is only one hour away instead of three.

On to the Puppy pictures!

First, this pack is always up to something!



Sleeping after finding a hole in an old quilt.



Zoë and Grace getting them ready for their well puppy check.
(They passed with flying colors!)
Thanks to James Bodine, grandson, who helped with the transfer of the twelve puppies.



In the whelping box so Zoë can get some sleep.
They are a lot bigger now.
All over ten pounds.



Not sure what is happening here.



Feeding time outside.



They still get a lot on their faces.



No more food?
Just eat the plate.



Cutie Pie!



Getting ready for a snooze.



Grandpa Mac saying “Hi.”

That’s Grace looking at the camera.



Grace saying “Hi.”



Grace remarking it’s time for to come in.



The pack after Mom!



That’s sure is funny to watch.



Happy pup.



Back under the cart.
It’s cool and dirty.
Just the place to spend a hot afternoon.

That’s all for now,
Take care.

July 23, 2010

First: Dan has passed the swallowing test! “He is a superlative swallower.” That’s from the person doing the x-ray video. Now, they will take out the feeding tube, make sure he can take in enough calories and then it will be REHAB time! Whew!

Next: PUPPIES PICTURES!

Zoë had to take the phone and gave Melanie the broom and said,
“Just sweep up the kitchen.”



Help arrived.



More help arrived.

Melanie asked, “You are kidding right?”



At this point Zoë looked and laughed.
Turns out she usually does this when the pups are asleep.



Cutie Pie.

This next one was taken in the dark.



That’s Grace on the bed playing with her pups.

They are very cute, but do NOT let them get near a kleenex box.



We are now leaving the gate open to the outside puppy pen.
Grace leads them out every morning.
They have a great time.
Here are some pictures of them on their own.



Yes, there’s a puppy there. . .



Nothing like learning to drive early.




Through the fence.
Without Mom or Human.





Totally awesome pups!

Right now they are all inside. It’s pouring rain. We need it, but the pups would prefer it a bit dryer.

That’s all this week,
Take care.

July 20, 2010

Dan is getting over pneumonia and it looks like he will be in rehab maybe next week. This means a trip of 2 hours all together to see him, instead of 6 hours. KEEP ON HEALING, DAN!

Today as a make up for not having the log on Friday . . .

Pups first time out in the Puppy Play Yard!



Hmm. Usually this door is shut.



What’s this green stuff?



Well, it’s comfortable to sit on.



Not sure about the green stuff.
1/2 in and 1/2 out.



I don’t want to go out.



Beginning to explore.



This isn’t so bad.



In fact, it’s sort of fun.



Hey, you can eat the green stuff!



Running . .



New Game!
King of the door!



Grabbing on to a tail!

That’s all for now!
Take care.

July 10, 2010

Report of Dan and then PUPPY Pictures!

From Zoë

I keep thinking I’ll know “the answer” so I can plan. After 77, almost 78 years, you’d think I’d know better.

Thursday the very fine people at Brigham and Women’s Hospital worked on Dan a long time. He went into the OR, or room before it, about 12:30 PM and got out of the operation at about 10:00 PM.

They had found, the day before, that he had an aneurism in his aorta, and that the mitral valve was making more problems than anyone thought. The doctor replaced his aorta and fixed the valve which turned out to be a big job. He also did something that I can’t remember to fix the a-fibulation that bothers Dan often.

Since he had had surgery 4 years ago, there was a lot of scar tissue, and they found that the wires the previous surgeon used to hold his sternum together had disintegrated and so had some of Dan’s bones. This was fixed by a plastic surgeon Friday. The surgeon did not want to do it Thursday night as he felt Dan had had enough. Dan was sedated until the sternum got fixed. Martha and I did see him before we drove home Thursday night and he looked better than I thought he would.

Martha has done the difficult 6 hours round trip drive now twice. We are lucky that she and her family live close. Melanie has been wonderful keeping up with the pups and dogs when I am gone. She has help from Jesse who helps us with the heavy work here, and he is a great puppy person. Rachel, Martha’s daughter, came over to help with the feeding. Rachel has now announced that Melanie owes her when she ever has children.

Wednesday, Daniel and grandson Brendan drove down from Maine to see Dan. Brendan informed the nurses that he is a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) and would help his grandfather to shave and shower and get the stuff he wanted. He did a great job.

I imagine Dan will be in the hospital for quite a while, and as soon as he wakes up with his new chest, aorta and fixed valve, I will schedule puppy stuff. I did register the litter, and I have gotten an appointment for the cardiologist to listen to these cute things on August 7th.

Thanks to all of you for your good wishes and prayers.

Puppies First Time Out!





At first little wary. .



Thinking about going back in . .



Whoops, someone coming out . .



Posing (all our puppies are good at posing)



Not sure Mr. Teal is too happy about this.

Maybe he’s just hungry.



Dinner!



So good!



Walking to the next dish.



This is really getting into your food.

Whew, that was hard work.



Nap time.

Wait!



Mom’s here for a visit.



Stampede after Gracie!



Maybe another nap?



Or eat Melanie’s shoe?

Here is the Adult Pack showing their suppport for Dan.



It’s hard work supporting loved ones.



Thank you for your understanding through this difficult time.
Not sure how visits are going to go yet.
They will have to be coordinated in-between trips to Boston.
Take care.

On the Day of Dan's surgery

From Dan's Book For the Love of Puppies,
I sip my scotch and watch a tiny but no larger than a period flying on wings so small that their flutter blurs the shape of its minuscule body. Does it have any idea where its urgent beating of wings will take it? How does it even have room in that microscopic head for a brain to instruct its flight? Yet, somewhere in that weightless gauze of a body is the same quality of life that invigorates and vitalizes the puppies. It’s the same life quality that oozes out of the mud down by the river and produces a thousand species of green plants. I turn in my chair and look back at Deer Hill to the east and see the bowers of foliage laid one upon the other like light and dark green pillows piled at the head of a giant bedstead. The quantity and profundity of all these vessels of life’s essence fills me with awe.

June 7, 2010

Thanks to all our friends and puppy lovers for your concern and patience.
Dan goes into surgery tomorrow morning.
We will need to put off visits to the pups until after the 12th.
Zoë will be getting e-mails off to you ASAP.

Happy 4th of July!



July 3, 2010

First some not so good news:

Dan has been fading away quickly and finally the doctors and family got on the same track.  He is now in Cooley Dickenson Hospital in Northampton and will be transferred to Brigham and Women's in Boston on Monday.  On Tuesday they will use an x ray procedure that goes thru his throat or something and goes to the back of the heart to check the mitral valve which is leaking and spewing more and more and should have been fixed with the other operation in 2006.  They may be able to fix it with a procedure that is "non invasive" and involves clamps which we hope they can.  Otherwise it will be open heart surgery again and we are not sure he can make it thru that.  We don't think anyone knew how much the mitral valve had disintegrated

Please keep him in your prayers and thoughts.

The Canine Part of the Pack is doing great. Though they are missing tricking Dan out of the bed to steal his place. It’s not the same when they can just get in the bed.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
ROS AND MAC!
We’ve got a picture of their brother Wendell somewhere too.



River Bear McKey’s Rosalind (Ros)



River Bear Robert’s Mister McKey (Mac)

Cooling off in the pool.

Next up . . .

HARVARD!

Yup, the pups were evaluated by the Harvard Canine Cognition Lab.
They were tested for empathy.
They had plenty.

So not only do these pups go to their forever homes with a quilt but with a leash that says:

Harvard Canine Cognition Lab!



They even brought one to Gracie!

Since the pups are now past their second birth (3 weeks where they can smell, see, hear and start acting like pups) Melanie thought she’d take pics of them getting ready to eat.



It usually starts with one pup chewing on another.
It is always a different pup that starts this.
Today it was Miss Pink/White chewing on Miss White/Teal’s ear.



Not sure who this is, but they thought about getting a drink of water, then fell back asleep.



Mr. Orange decides to join in chewing on Miss White/Teal.



Miss Pink/White is now trying Miss White/Teal’s foot.
Miss White/Teal is still asleep.



Caught in the act!



Mr. Orange thinks about the situation.



Thinking hard.



The troops begin to awake.



Action starts



What cannot be understood at this point is the NOISE of twelve hungry puppies!
They sound like a HUGE flock of seagulls with an occasional bark thrown in.



Mr. Teal smells MAMA!

At this point anarchy takes over.
We’re pulling six puppies out of the whelping box and leaving six in, getting Grace to come in and lie down. Feeding Grace, giving the six not on Grace some weaning diet. Then switching the pups around and doing it all over again.

These pups aren’t light anymore.



Then silence reigns.
Our dirty pups sleep.

And Grace . .



immediately lies on the cool hearth with a certain portion of her body down.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
WENDELL!

Here is little Wendell taken this evening, just two days before his 6th birthday. 

He'll always be "Baby Wendell" to us.

I hope you think he's as cute as we do.  Needs a bit of grooming around his neck esp., but what a sweet face!


Take care,
And think of Dan,
Thanks.

June 30, 2010

Had some bad news yesterday about Dan. He’s going to Boston for more tests.

So we are taking the day off.

Zoë will get in touch with people soon.
If you have had a change in your plans, please e-mail us.

Here’s a couple of cute pictures.



Now talking to each other.

This is what we’re going to do today.


Take care.

June 25, 2010

Please excuse the shortness of this blog.
Melanie and Zoë have been running back and forth to the vets and to the doctors.

Zoë says she knows she is behind on communication but we’ve been worried about Grace.
She is doing much better, but it’s been tough.
Never thought we’d have to force feed a Newfoundland.
She is now eating and enjoying life again and Zoë might be able to get some sleep soon.

By the gift of some great friends

Wookie and his Mom,

All twelve puppies got their own quilts.
They are bright beautiful and wonderful.

Melanie had to do pictures and then make a photoshopped

PUPPY QUILT!



Enjoy!


Melanie will try to put up some more pictures sometime this weekend. She has celiac disease and who would have know that olives would have wheat flour in them. (She could have READ the ingredients, before popping one in her mouth, but NOOO) She’s pretty much out of it.

Take care until next time!

June 18, 2010

An interesting week this week. Gracie stopped eating and had another problem with her intestines. Melanie drove her to Dr. Constant and he gave her a big going over. Blood, urine and poop tests. Grace just slept through the whole thing. He said, “This isn’t normal, is it?” Melanie explained that Gracie was a happy dog and usually pretty busy. So with Zoë on the phone and the test results back, Dr. Constant said that Gracie was just worn out.

He gave her fluids under her skin, some meds (she was getting the beginning of a infection because she was so worn out) and he hand fed her some food. Her tail wagged.

She is now eating and drinking and feeding puppies. She is still tired. Zoe has decided she has post partumm depression and has her out for a walk in the sum.

Speaking of puppies . . .

IN HONOR OF
WORLD CUP SOCCER!

We have

World Cup Eating!

(They are eating baby rice cereal)

We first have the entire teams on the “Soccer Pitch.”



Yup, all twelve are there.

Here we have “Defensive Pressure”



Looks like a quite a scuffle.

Two are trying out the “Slide Tackle.”



We think that there are two to the left that are “Creating Space.”

“OFF SIDES!”



Check the upper center.
Zoë is getting an escaping pup!




Two “Central Defenders!”



One pup seems to be “Hacking” the “Goalkeeper.”
But the “Goalie” doesn’t give up.



When all else fails . . .



Suck on the plate.

We decided the game was a “Howler” tie and the pups celebrated by cleaning each other.



And doing some yoga.



Very cute story!




What has Gracie got in her mouth?




It’s the toy with many squeakers!
It had been in the whelping box and needed cleaning.
Gracie found it in the clean clothes.

She brought it into the west wing and put it back in the whelping box!

Two random puppy pics.



Awesome.



They love to cuddle into things and under things.

And here’s a pretty picture of Ros.



Doesn’t she look comfy?

People have sent us some pictures of our older puppies.
Melanie will try to get them up next week.
Take care!

June 11, 2010

Well, it’s hectic here. Of course, that’s nothing new. How about, more hectic than usual.

First Pictures of Grace and Nursing PUPS!



Grace is a little out of focus, but we’re all out of focus here.

Melanie did get a picture of in focus nursing puppies.



Aww. They are very wet. Grace likes to keep them clean.
She has a very big tongue and the puppies are still small.
Her tongue wins.

How do the other dogs feel about this?



Out in the cold wet yard.

Don’t feel too sorry for them, they are outside because they insist they can take care of the puppies better than Grace.
Well, that’s not completely true. Franklin just wants to be with Zoë.

Katie took her rejection philosophically.



By throwing herself into the fireplace.

(Don’t worry, we have it opened to help the dogs keep cool.

BACK TO THE PUPPIES!

Zoë is doing a bit of supplemental feeding.







Puppies seem to like to be upside down.



Awwww.

By the way!
Harvard (yes, The Harvard) is coming to evaluate our puppies!
This started when Cleo, one of Franklin puppies with one of Kathy Luce’s females, was evaluated by Harvard for intelligence.

I do not know anything about the current Harvard study.  When I took Cleo to the lab, the tests were non-invasive and centered around her cognitive abilities.  (They thanked us for participating but I heard, "Cleo is the smartest dog, EVER!")  Meaning the tester held up various pictures and pointed at things with the promise of a treat at the end of it.  The testers were very nice, and, although Cleo is usually nervous at tests, she was calm, happy, and eager to participate.  It helps that Cleo loves going into buildings, riding elevators, meeting new people, and snacking.  The testers we had are pictured with Cleo upon graduation.



Offer a Newfoundland food? Of course, they will do anything you want!

Turns out they want to test our puppies for empathy.
As we find out more, we will let you know!

News from the Litters:

River Bear Isabellle “loves to sneak out of the front door and goes directly next door to Baily's house and barks at the front door to get him to come out and play. its actually quite cute!
 
Isabbelle is doing great and is such a good girl with Jack- our almost 6 month old-- though I think she misses being the only "child" sometimes. I attached some pictures for you to see them.
 
Good Luck with Gracie next week- look forward to hearing puppy news and seeing pictures on the log! Enjoy the summer”




There are two cutie pies!


That’s all,
Take care.

June 9, 2010

More Puppy Pics!

First a hard working Grace!



And her two puppy packs of power!


First crew.






They like to squirm a lot.

Second crew.





See Miss Red there?
She fell asleep for this morning’s feeding and was VERY upset that she missed it.
Which got Grace VERY upset.
So Zoë did a little supplemental feeding and put her with Grace all on her little Miss Red’s own.
They both calmed down and silence reigns once more!

We’ve have some pics from other litters which we will put up Friday.
Probably more pics of this litter tomorrow if weather permits. (Melanie is fussy and likes to take their pictures without the flash.

Take care.



June 7, 2010

Great News!

Let’s see . . .

Is it Melanie’s garden coming in?



Naw, that’s not it.

Hmmm

Is it Melanie found the Luna Moth picture?



Naw, that’s not it.

WAIT!

IS IT THE EVEN DOZEN PUPPIES THAT GRACE HAD THIS MORNING?



YES!
THAT’S IT (OR THEM)!

There are twelve puppies in that box.
Melanie will take more pictures tomorrow or the next day and post them.
Seven females and five males.
Blacks and also Irish Spotted!

Well Done Grace!

Grace is fine (a little out of it from the drugs.)
One pup had trouble breathing but the vet techs (all of them wonderful) worked and worked and the puppy is doing fine now.

So keep your fingers and paws crossed for the next three weeks.

Great Grandmother Bess showed us how to handle the stress of waiting for the puppies.



Take care,
More later.

June 4, 2010

Whew, what a week (except it’s only been three days). We are carefully watching Gracie. Dr. Constant said there wasn’t a lot of room in there for her stomach, so she’s eating more often and getting treats. Shell-less hard boiled eggs are still her favorites.

The other matrons are taking turns being by Gracie. She always has one of them near her. Rosie, and the guys, don’t get it. Franklin just says, “Where’s Zoë?” and Mac says, “I’m sleeping, here.” Rose wants to know where her playmate has gone.

The River Bear Moths
are back.

There are a couple of new ones we haven’t seen before . . .



We thought this was an old twig,until it’s wings came out and flew away.




The veining on this one was great.

And then two of our army moths.




The army must have gotten their camouflage ideas from moths.
We also had a luna moth, but Melanie lost the picture somehow.

Back to the NEWFS!

Some one was playing in the dandelions . .



It was Ellie!!



She was also playing in the mud.

About the upcoming weeks . .
• Grace is scheduled for a C-Section on Tuesday, June 8th.
Keep paws and fingers crossed for all healthy puppies.

• After that we will be busy. For those of you who have gone through this with us before, you know that it will be twenty-four hours and seven days a week for a few weeks. Especially, if there are going to be ten pups. We will have to do some bottle feedings every two hours to help out Grace. Someone will have to be up to make sure Grace doesn’t lie down on them and to make sure the pups don’t fade on us.

• So Melanie will be adding to the log, but it might not be when you expect it.

• If you try to contact us, it might take a couple of days to get back to you. We are not going to ignore you, we will be very busy.


Oh, a pic from the litters:

From River Bear Katie’s last litter . . .
(stud, Nashua Nuke’s Little Big Man, Jonah)
River Bear Apollo and Diana
(Apollo is sitting)



We’ll let you know when anything happens.


Take care.

June 2, 2010

Grace is going to have about ten puppies.
She has ten “faucets” which is two more than Katie has, so feeding time might be easier.

Here’s a picture of Grace checking out the whelping box.



We did not take a picture of Ros making a statement by peeing in the whelping box.

Two more from the back!





Sitting is getting a tad difficult and she still has a week to go.

Take care,


More on Friday.

May 29, 2010

Hope everyone is having a good Memorial Day weekend. This week had two very hot days. The air conditioners were not in so we had . .

FLAT DOGS!



Who is that sleeping in the Family Room?



It’s Bess with a beautiful kerchief around her neck.
Yup, we’re taking down those winter coats (slowly) and the Newfs love their “bling.”
That’s Grace to the left. She’s really panting now.



Franklin, trimmed down and cool.
Boy, he has a big head.

Here’s Grace outside trying to keep cool.



“Yo, Melanie, get that camera out of my face.”

The tub and turtle sprinkler came out this week.
That turtle sprinkler has been around for years.



Rose and Ros really like it.



A wet Ros.
(She got trimmed down last night)



Rose and the turtle.



At this point, the dogs like to come over and wipe their faces on your pants.



Melanie’s rock experiment.
Mattie has been spotted lying down on the cool rocks,
but the time the camera got out, she was off.

And a picture of Bess to finish off the week.



We now have the air conditioners in . . .
and it turned cool outside.
We are not complaining.

Gracie’s pregnancy is continuing normally.
Wednesday June 2nd, she goes in for x-rays.

She still would like to know what the heck is going on. . .

That’s all this week,
Take care.

May 21, 2010

Melanie went to the camera to write the log and WHOOPS there were no pictures! She has not done her job. The Newfs are mad at her. How are they going to become famous if Melanie doesn’t take any pictures?

So she’s going to tell a couple of stories. . .

Gracie is doing well and she has NO idea what is going on except she is very hungry. She is doing a lot of panting and Melanie tells her she is pumping her puppies up. Grace just looks at her and says “FEED ME.”

Zoë has been taking various Newfs to the vets to get different shots and blood tests. Everyone is fine, but Mac does not believe in motorcycles. He sits up in the space between the two van seats and keeps a look out. When he spots a motorcycle, he gets all the dogs barking and the van leans to one side as they all have to get a look.
No motorcycles were harmed during the van ride.

We are having the dogs clipped very short for the summer. With Dan still not completely well and Grace’s pups on the way, grooming will take a back seat. Under the hair we have discovered, Patsy and Bess are not fat, Franklin is very muscular and his head is huge and Mattie needs to go on a diet. The others are waiting their turns.

Melanie has decided on an experiment. She’s taking the trays out of the dog crates and filling them with stones. She will then put them in the shade and fill with water. Her idea is that the stones will keep the dogs cool and yet not soaked their coats with water. At least this will keep her busy.

Next important date!! June 2 . . . X-rays will be taken of the pups. We will have a better idea on what to expect, not necessarily a correct count, but a better idea.

One more thing!!!!

One of Katie’s puppies was a go-between! The pup’s parents went for a walk and got to the park. When puppy’s Dad sent him to Mom, Puppy dropped something at her feet. She thought it was something that he had picked up at the park. Noooooo, it was a box with an engagement ring inside! Pretty cool way to get engaged!

That’s all this week,
Take care.




May 14, 2010 (well, close enough)

Gracie is doing well. She is having a doggie bonbon a day (shelled hard boiled egg).

Since our news, we have been very busy, figuring out and moving furniture around in the West Wing, now known as the Puppy Apartment. But as happens with ten Newfoundlands, life goes on and on and on.

Zoë is running the dogs up to State Forest for their morning walk/run. Melanie went along and took pictures.



Zoë takes four or five a day.
The Newfs do not remember when they went so always want to go.



Ros in her punk hair cut.
Ros, Rose and Mattie have to have leashes on when they get back in the van, just in case they see Sam, the golden retriever, down the street as they come home.
Those three like to visit Sam.

Newfs drink a lot of water, filling the buckets (yes, with ten Newfs you need buckets) takes a great deal of time.



Dan and Zoë’s grandson (and Melanie’s son), Rob Carpenter, illustrator and tattoo artist extraordinaire, came up for Mother’s Day!

He put the new tent together.



The Newfs were not impressed.



Hmm, would you believe that neither Zoë or Melanie had treats on them to prime the pump?

So Rob got in.



Melanie didn’t think he could fit. He’s over six feet tall.
She was wrong.



Found!



Maybe a bit too found. . .



(Love the hand)
HELP!



Zoë to the rescue.
Melanie was laughing too hard.

One last picture . . .



Amazing Grace in her first
Pregnant Newfoundland Mother Yoga Position.

That’s all this week.
Take Care.

It’s Offical!



Patsy’s going to be a grandmother!
(Melanie had to put Patsy in there because Patsy was posing, and Grace was being herself!)

Let’s try that again!

It’s Offical!



Gracie’s Pregnant!
She also didn’t feel like having her picture taken.
Melanie had brushed her hair and let her out.
Grace then went and drank water and ate grass and got slobbered on by other Newfs . . . Melanie promises to get a good picture of her soon.

She did try . . .
This one is called
Grace in Motion.



Such a sweetie!

Anyhoo, it appears to be EIGHT PUPS!

Though how Dr. Constant can tell from the ultrasounds is a mystery to us.



The “x”s are supposed to mean something.



Zoë thinks this one looks like a puppy face, but who knows?

So a shout out to the stud!
Thanks Nashua Nuke’s Little Big Man!
Jonah

Important dates and information.

• June 7th is the guess date for the birth of the pups.
• We have no idea exactly how many pups there are.
• We will not know sex of pups until they are born.
•For those of you that have expressed an interest in a puppy, Zoë will be emailing you soon.
She has to take Dan to a doctor tomorrow. Just a check up, he’s getting much better.

So keep your fingers and paws crossed!
The log will continue on Friday.
Take care.

April 30, 2010

Very short log and no pictures today.

Grace’s “Is She Pregnant?” appointment will be sometime in the second full week in May.

Dan is getting well.

Melanie’s working on a project,
sorry the log is short,
Take Care.



April 23, 2010 (Yes, we know it’s actually Saturday, but it’s been one of THOSE weeks)

Spring has sprung, the leaves is out,



We wonders where the dogs is about?



We say the dogs is behind the door



Waiting for Dan’s balance to be more!

Okay so the rhyme is stressed, but so are we!!

Dan is home from the hospital, without his appendix.
(Really, who needs one anyway?)

So the log is short.

The best picture of the week wasn’t taken with the camera.
Melanie went into the upstairs bathroom and caught two Newfoundlands in the act of mayhem.

Rosie had found a coat with TREATS in the pockets.
She was chewing through the pockets to get to the treats.
She didn’t care if she was caught.

“Hey Melanie, look it here, look it here. I found treats, I found treats. Empty the pockets? Huh, empty the pockets?”

Franklin, on the other paw, had a clue that PERHAPS he shouldn’t be chewing the pockets, backed up into the bathtub and was looking at Melanie from under the shower curtain.

“Wasn’t me!”

Somehow even with the blue and green veil of the shower curtain over his huge head and the drool with bits of coat stuck in it, Melanie didn’t believe him.

So Spring has sprung,
The grass is riz . . .

And we still have ice in the morning.



Oh, we also have a lot of coats with no pockets.

Well, wish us luck for an easy week.
Gracie SEEMS to be pregnant.
We wish someone out there would create a pregnancy test for Newfoundlands. We get tired of waiting.

That’s all this week.
Take care.

April 16, 2010
(actually it’s the 15th, but people don’t like that date in April for some reason.)

Been an interesting week here at River Bear Newfoundlands. And we mean that from the Chinese Curse . .

May you live in interesting times.

It was Melanie’s birthday.
She’s (cough cough) years old.

She has weird times on her birthday.
Like the year she had a black eye from acupuncture.
The year that she discovered she was VERY allergic to pink
insulation.
She went up into the attic and came down
with large blotches all over her face.

THIS YEAR?

Dan’s appendix ruptured.
He’s in the hospital.
Zoë took Ellie, our therapy dog, into see him,
tripped in the parking lot,
and has an ankle the size of a grapefruit!

Dan’s coming home Friday.
Zoë is able to hobble around.
Melanie had a good time with Amalia and Leonard FourHawks,
who came by bearing a lunch, dinner, and birthday cards and a cake.

Though she thinks next year she’s just going to skip having a birthday all together!

Since Dan is coming home tomorrow, we’re writing the log today.
Went to the camera and we had two pictures.
Melanie has no idea what they are from or what they are about.



Mac finishing his dinner.



Patsy checking out everyone’s dish.
We thought Patsy was ten pounds over weight,
then she started shedding
It was just hair!

That’s all this week,
Oh wait! Gracie is getting really hungry. We’re hoping that is a good sign.
Take care.

April 9, 2010

Keep your fingers crossed!
Grace and Jonah
have done their “thang”.

We’ll know more in FIVE weeks.
(sigh, it takes for ever to find out if a Newf is pregnant)

Melanie is now done going through the old pictures.
She found two more she wanted to share.



That’s Jamie with Bess (now almost 9 years old) between her legs.



Newfoundlands are working dogs!
Melanie took this picture at one of the Newfoundland Nationals.

This week we had a visitor . .



Katie is waiting . . .



Gracie, Ellie and Patsy are waiting . . .



They were waiting for the . . .



THE EASTER BEAGLE!



Gracie was the lucky one that got two Easter Eggs!

Out back across the river, the Belted Kingfishers are back.
We had one pair for the last two years, and this year we have two or three pairs.
Melanie found out that Kingfishers dig into river banks and lay their eggs in the cavities. The beavers have been working, getting more water down a small creek and the Spring rush of water has created banks five feet high.

She spent one day stalking the Kingfishers and finally got a couple of pictures.



Just after snapping this . .



He took off.

Patsy waits patiently for Melanie.



Melanie figures that the dogs just think she’s nuts.
Stalking birds?
Right.

That’s all this week.
Take care.

April 2, 2010

Grace and Jonah’s Rendezvous is today!

Think fertile thoughts everyone.
And here she is the beautiful Grace!



Whoops.
Zoë thinks Grace is getting the nesting behavior a little early,
but Melanie reminded her that Grace likes to dig for moles.
Of course, with a hole that big, it must be a huge mole.

At the Newfoundland Club of New England’s
Cabin Fever Blowout
there was a new game for Newfoundlands and their owners!

It was called . .

KLUTZ
“a test of a Newf’s ability to knock down bowling pins in a set amount of time”

Now there are some people who KNOW Newfoundlands.

Speaking of games, here’s our guessing game.
“Where is Zoë now?”



Maybe that was a bit too easy.

Spring has finally arrived.
Most of the snow has gone.
The river is lower but not normal yet.



Under those rapids is the rock cropping the dogs like to stand on.



The tadpole pond is even with the Newf pool.
This means that the dogs would be swept away if they got in the water.



They still want to go down though.



Zoë cleans as the dogs . . .



look for shade.
That’s Franklin.
And here’s Grace.



Got a picture from River Bear Molly and River Bear Iz.



This was taken in February. Mollie is a little bigger now.

Just wanted to bring you up to date on our mighty Mollie. She is an eating machine an growing like a weed. 65 pounds last visit and already at Iz's shoulder. She is all sweetness and sunshine and never runs out of kisses. Zoe you had her pegged exactly though when you said "she is sweet but holds her own". She is fearless and giving Iz a run for her money. No more crates or gates, she sleeps either on the bed or at the foot and happily trots back and forth bringing in all her toys for bedtime.(the rubber chicken is banned at bedtime to her dismay) Although she has her own little personality, she is every bit as much a joy as Iz is to us.

That’s all this week,
Take care.

March 26, 2010


First!
Gracie is going in on Saturday for her first round of tests to let us know the right time for her rendezvous with Jonah.

The river is high once again after one inch of rain and melting snow. This time of year with its high “tides” is when the Newf pool can get rearranged with sand and rocks. It will be interesting to see what happens this year.



The Newf pool is to the left. The rock outcropping is completely covered by rapids right now. That usually carves out a deeper place to wade. We’ll just have to wait until further in the Spring to find out what happens.
Oh, yeah, they are calling for 3 inches of snow.

The Newfs were helping this week.



That's Gracie on the left, then Mac, Franklin and Katie waiting for the guys who were taking out the pellet stoves to come back to their van.
They barked for them.
The guys said they were biggest dogs they’d ever seen.

Yes, Virginia there were cameras before digital.

Melanie was throwing things out in her room, (for her birthday Dan and Zoë are having her room fixed up and painted) when she came across old puppy pictures taken with a camera with (gasp) film.
So she scanned them into the computer so we could share them.




Our foundation bitch, Kilyka Castlepines Jamielee’s, second litter.
The one with the red collar?
That’s Bess who will be nine in October!



Another litter mate of Bess’s.



Another one with a sandy nose.



This is either Franklin or his litter mate Roger.
Patsy’s first litter.
Franklin and Roger will be 6 in September.

Patsy’s second litter had a surprise for us.
First we were worried because she was in labor and nothing was happening, so Dan and Zoë got her in the van and headed down the road, whoops, there came a puppy.
They came back and Dan went to bed.
Zoë and Melanie were quite surprised when
SOCKS
arrived!



She’s an Irish Spotted Newfoundland!
They just roared with laughter.
This was one puppy that didn’t need a color ribbon on her neck.



Patsy’s second litter again.
Socks (renamed, Maddie) attacking Mr. Green from the front
while someone else is biting his tail.



Nothing slowed this group down.



Until they got tired.

Thanks for letting us indulge in a bit of reminiscing. Now from one of the newest pups (Katie’s and Jonah’s)!

I think of you all every time I look at my precious boy, and am grateful all over again.  Sometimes I look at him and am just amazed that he is mine!  I am sure you are familiar with the unspeakable joy I get from him every day! 



River Bear Onyx



We’re thinking Onyx’s mom must keep treats in her purse.

That’s all this week,
Take Care.

WOOPS!
Forgot to mention
GRACIE'S IN HEAT!

March 19, 2010



What is the Pack doing?

They are giving a “shout out” to Newfoundland Breeder
Kathy Luce of Dingle Newfoundlands.

You see Zoë and Melanie went to see puppies and came home
SMELLING LIKE PUPPIES!

Now, why were we there to visit besides the fact we miss having puppies around?
These pups are Bess’s Grandchildren!
Ginna their mother was Bess’s pup by Kathy’s Patrick.
She’s been a great mom; Kathy says she’s the June Cleaver of Newfoundland dog moms.



These are three of the females in the litter.
Zoë’s arms are there too.



That’s the male.
He had finished playing, thank you very much.




Adorable.

Oh, and don’t get excited.
Kathy has owners for all of these puppies!

So what’s happening here?

We had a great time for Dan’s Eighty-first birthday.
Dan and Zoë’s son and family were down from Maine with Alaba, their dog.

Melanie wrote a song for Dan called Looking Ahead.
Think the Beatles "When I'm Sixty-Four" when you read it.

As I get older losing my hearing,
Not so far from now,
Will you still be sending me a valentine
Birthday card, six ounces of wine?

If I get up at quarter to three
Will you guard the bed?
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When the dogs kick me out of bed?

oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oooo
You'll be older too, (ah ah ah ah ah)
And if you, dear one, say the word,
I will stay with you.

I can be handy throwing the switch
When our lights have gone.
We can feed the dogs in our huge huge clan
Mornings get them all in the van

Doing the garbage, picking up poop,
Who could ask for more?
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm eighty-four?

Every evening I can fix us supper
In the kitchen, the dogs acting as rugs
They will drool and shed
Pretty puppies on our knees
White, Pink and Miss Red.

Send me an e-mail, drop me a line,
Stating point of view.
Indicate precisely what you mean to say
Yours sincerely but going gray.

Give me your answer, fill in the form
I’m for ever yours
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm eighty-four?


Now what did having all these people and an extra dog mean for our Pack?

They were stuck outside during the birthday dinner.
We tried to explain that eleven people having dinner didn’t mix with ten Newfoundlands, but the Pack was not pleased.
They were also not allowed in the Living room.
Which really upset the crew who sleep on the couches at night.

As soon as Daniel, Carolyn, Brenden and Alaba left . . .



The dogs took over.
You can’t see it, but both sofas are taking up, one sofa with two dogs on it. The floor is completely covered with dog.

They are happy and snoring.

The snow pack is melting but it does leave behind some interesting leftovers.
Dan saw this the other day.



He said it looked like spider webs.
It’s really a three month collection of dog hair that has melted down through the snow and ice and now has frost on it.

Another sign of spring?



When Melanie was taking a picture of the pecan tree budding out, she also got a picture of Mattie running through the yard.

We leave you with a happy Bess!




That’s all this week,
Take care.

March 12, 2010

It’s March. Now, up here in the hills of Western Massachusetts we might still have snow storms through the end of April, but we can feel the change in the air. Yup, Spring is coming; the sap is running for Sugaring, the river has thrown the icebergs up on the shore and is running free, the snow pack is melting, and . . .

Oh, wait, the snow pack is melting.
It’s coming on to mud season.



Isn’t that pretty?
Still a little too early to put the hay down so the dogs don’t bring in too much mud in the house.
But they are getting a lot off when they run through the new pool.

What new pool, you ask?



That’s a six inch pool of icy slush that Grace is digging in.



Who me?



Some wooly Newfmoths.
That’s Franklin.

And Patsy doing some Homeland security.



And sister and brother,
Ros and Mac.



We received a note and a very cute picture of River Bear Maggie from the Katie’s litter.

Oh my goodness, does this dog keep us busy!!  Maggie is a joy to have around but she sure does have a smart little mind of her own!  She is also quite an athlete - she literally flys through the air (usually to get food or something she's not supposed to have).

They titled the picture . . .
“Gimme some candy or I’m coming over.”



What a look!

That’s all this week.
Take Care.

March 5, 2010

Yup, it’s March. Thank goodness February is over, even the weather has changed.



Well, maybe not.
So we’re all going a bit stir crazy here.

Melanie found Zoë crawling up the walls.



She figured the dogs had just gotten too much.

But no,



Zoë was just putting up new curtains.

Sometimes you just have to wonder about Newfoundlands.
We have our dog yards divided into three different areas.
The middle is the Stockade: stones for peeing and pooping, the dogs are free to come and go from the house into the stockade.
To the left of that is the Puppy yard. We also open it up to the big dogs when there are no puppies and during the Spring, Summer and Fall to get all the dogs in the van.
The Puppy yard has a big gate on it so the van can get in it.
Then there is the Play yard which is the right side yard, and the dogs can get there if we open the gate.

Now we told you that to tell you this. . .

The gate to the Puppy yard was open and a few of the dogs were over in that yard looking over at the neighbors.
More of the pack came out of the house into the Stockade and HORRORS!
saw dogs on the other side of the Stockyard fence and start barking their fool heads off.
So the ones from the Puppy yard come running through the gate and gather at the fence to bark through the fence at the dogs that aren’t there anymore because it was them.

Hmm.
Not sure if that makes any sense (or proper English), but that’s what happened.

Yup,
we’re going a bit stir crazy here.



What on earth is Katie doing?



Katie? Are you all right?



She was chasing her tail!
Yup, stir crazy.

That’s all this week,
Take care.

February 26, 2010

Wednesday morning we woke up to two feet of new snow!
Views out the windows.



From the upstairs into the stockade.



Out the front door.



The snow plows had given up.

Melanie was working at the computer,
when she saw out the window . . .



What? Who?

Our neighbor, Scott, was plowing out all of
West West Cummington!



Isn’t that a cool machine?



We want one just like it.
Unfortunately, Scott said all it took was money.

Well, we KNOW where all our money goes.
Speaking of the dogs what are they up to?

A couple of stories before the snow fell.

Melanie was looking out at the puppy yard where Dan was picking up poop with all the help he could need, when she noticed Rose.
Rose was on her back legs, with no support. Very strange.
Turns out she was pruning the cherry tree of twigs and then eating them.
Hmmm.

We have got to admit it, Eleanor is deaf.
Still very sweet, but this is not selective hearing anymore.
She does not like going past dogs, especially Bess.
Ellie barks and barks and barks and barks and barks to let someone know she needs to get by.
Telling her to come does not work, even though we constantly try that. What she wants is to get a human by her so she can get past Bess.
The other morning, Bess was at the bottom of the stairs. Melanie was at the computer with her hip and knee not working too well. Zoë was reading in the living room.

Ellie started barking. Zoë called.
HA!
That didn’t work.
Ellie continued to bark.
Melanie motioned to Ellie to come.
Bark.
Melanie motioned her to come with more arm movement.
Bark.
Melanie dramatically opens her arms to Ellie.
Bark.
Laughter from Zoë, “If only I had the camera!”
Zoë got up and when Ellie just caught sight of her and came in.

Not to be outdone, Melanie has been experimenting to see how far she has to get out of the computer chair to get Ellie to come.
Turns out to be about 3 inches.

Can you tell it’s been a long winter?

The dogs haven’t been able to get out to the play yard until today because they could have walked over the fence.
Today Jessie (our go-to guy) shoveled by hand all around the play yard so the dogs could get down there.
He’s still able to move around, amazing.

Here’s what they have been doing . . .



Waiting around for treats. . .

Really what they are doing is . . .



Learning the words of
OUT OF THE KITCHEN!

Zoë put up our handmade sign (several years old).



That’s Zoë there too.

Last bit of news!

River Bear Amazing Grace
is two years old!




She’s still not in heat.
We thought she was, but no not yet.

That’s all this week,
Take care.

February 19, 2010

Hmm. It’s the correct day. Melanie was sort of organized this week.

CONGRATULATIONS
to
JOANNE THIBAULT!

At Westminster she came in second out of 200 Junior Handlers!

Wow, she is awesome.
As is her sister , Junior Handler Jessie Thibault who was handling in the Newfoundland Breed Ring!

Next a story . . .

The long time readers of the log will remember that Dan and Zoë share their king size bed with different Newfs all through the night. When Franklin gets up on the bed, he’s fine unless he decided to sleep across the bottom of the bed. He weighs the covers down and there’s no pulling them up when he’s down there.

Last night, not only was he lying across the bottom of the bed, he decided that Rose’s ears needed cleaning. Dan and Zoë couldn’t stretch out their legs or pull the covers up AND had to listen to Lap, Lap, Lap, Lap, Lap, Lap, Lap, Lap . . . You get the picture.

Dan and Zoë get up and move Franklin and Rose off the bed. Ellie and Katie get on the bed. They are smaller (sort of). Dan and Zoë drift off to sleep. At four twenty five in the morning, Dan awakens to Zoë saying “What’s WRONG?” Well, nothing was wrong except Dan’s light was on. As they were looking at it, the light went out. Then it went back on. Then it went back off. Then it went back on. Then it went back off. . . You get the picture.

Thinking there was an electrical problem, striking horror into people who own an almost two hundred year old house, they got up.
All the dogs in the room thought that was great and got up to help.

The trouble? Mac was asleep in the study with his butt against the extension cord plug and every time he wiggled the light would go on and then when he wiggled again, it went off.

By this time Dan and Zoë were awake and just came down and got a very early start on the day!

We had some snow this week. The dogs love snow. Melanie got the good camera out, put the long lens on it and went out for snow dog pictures.





The dogs will find their toys when it melts.



First the dogs sat for portraits.



Bess



Patsy



Katie (she had just been running very hard)



Rose (a little out of focus, but Rose usually is)



Franklin



Grace



Mac (wait, everyone yell his name)

MAC!



There he is.

Now with every snow fall, there must be a snow battle.



We begin with some snuffling of Rose by Mattie.



Franklin on the left and Grace on the right are thinking about who’s side they should be on.



Katie attacks Franklin from the rear flank!



A Paws as they consider the situation.
Remember how we mentioned that Melanie was using the long lens?



This is why.
Humans get clipped at the knees when they are playing.



That’s Mattie, Grace and Patsy (mouth wide open) ganging up on Franklin.



Another Paws.



But Franklin hasn’t had enough and hits the ground in hopes that he will be attacked!





Everyone barks!
(Barking is very important)


He’s still a puppy. But . . .



Patsy, his Mom and Mattie have decided enough is enough.
You can just see him saying, “Oh come on, please, Mom?”



A Very Happy Franklin!

Now Ellie was NOT coming out in the snow, but where was Ros?



She was watching from the stairs.

That’s all this week.
Take Care!

February 12, 2010
(On time this week!)

Melanie thought this was a great picture. Sort of regimental shot of the food dishes.



That’s Dan’s work.

We know we have talked about Newf Homeland Security, but it is rare to find evidence of it working!

Mattie at work!



She and Bess are the ones with the best noses for animals across the river.

And here’s proof.
There was a lot of barking one night.

And there were tracks across the river!


Melanie looked the track up her books.
This is some sort of weasel track.
Around here that means mink, otter or weasel.
We’ve seen all three.


What ever it was enjoyed dancing around one of the rocks iced in on the river.



Here it is going up a small stream that creates the island in our river.

Pretty cool, huh?

Then it snowed again.
Not much here but down in New Jersey?



That’s Andrea, Rob and Papi getting ready for an arctic expedition!
They had 16 inches!
We had three. . .

But it was enough to cover the old tracks and someone else created new ones.



Remember when we said that Bess watches TV?

Well, we now have instant Netflix for the computer.
We have started watching the
All Creatures Great and Small
BBC series.

Bess is enjoying it.



Here’s another shot of the dogs outside.
Melanie loved the sunlight on them.



Hush, now . . .

Newfs sleeping . . .



Grace was trying out the bathtub to sleep in.




Ros asleep.




Rosie asleep.



Patsy on the left and Mac on the right.



Mattie asleep.



Grace decided the closet was better than the tub.

The rest?

Upstairs on Dan and Zoë’s king size bed.

Melanie is dreaming of Spring!

Andrea helped out. Today she is on the photo of the day for

http://www.hooping.org

She hoops and is beautiful while doing it.
For those of you who miss her picture here it is. .




That’s all this week.
Take care.

February 5, 2010 (sort of)

Well, it’s February. Zoë and Melanie do not like February. It goes on and on and on and on and on. Melanie decided to put up prisms in her windows so she could see some rainbows. Let’s see . . . it’s really six days into February and between the gray days and all the frost on the windows, she’s seen the rainbows once.

Melanie also remembered two years ago February when she was walking a then VERY pregnant Patsy during a major snowstorm. Patsy lay down in the middle of the street. Melanie thought she was going to have to be a midwife right then and there, but Patsy just had snowballs on the bottom of her feet. Melanie kept their walks close to home after that.

Speaking of Pregnant Newfs!

No one yet . .
But . .
River Bear Amazing Grace has passed all her clearances with flying colors!

That means this Spring,
Hopefully,
If everything works,
Grace will be mated to
Nashua Nuke’s Little Big Man!
Or Jonah.
Yep, same guy who helped out Katie.

Yes, our sweet little Amazing Grace.
You know this one.



She still loves getting in the bathtub after feeding time.

Other news?

We found out that Mollie had a rubber chicken.
Zoë got one for our dogs.



It is a big hit.

That really big Newf in the background is actually a throw over a chair. We didn’t get another dog.

That’s all this week.
Take Care.

January 29, 2010

Everyone sing together . . .

What a difference a RAIN makes . . .



Here is the view upriver from our bridge.
Though you can’t see it because of the ice and snow, the Newfie pool is off to the left behind those trees.

Then it got up to 50 degrees and rained for twenty-four hours straight.



This is just after the river broke up. You can still see the chunks of ice floating down stream.
Dan heard the ice; two large bangs. The dogs ran out barking.
We had two days of free running water.
It is now 8 degrees out, wind around 20 miles/hour.
The river is already freezing up again.

Dan and Zoë celebrated their

59th Wedding Anniversary!

Isn’t that cool?

The dogs even celebrated.



They got large smoked bones.

We had a visitor this week!
Mollie from our last litter came for a bit of fun.

Katy had a wonderful time.
Grace had a wonderful time.
Mollie had a wonderful time.



Here’s Mollie sitting for a treat.
Yes, she’s already been slobbered on.



Katie in front, Mollie below and Grace all waiting for a treat.



Upside down Mollie pawing at Gracie’s nose.

Some random pictures.



Snowstorm Bess through the window.

Melanie found a picture of Papi.



This is Rob and Andrea’s dog.
He is Rose’s best friend.

There was not enough room in the refrigerator for a huge bag of apples. So Melanie put the bag in the dog room hanging it up so the dogs couldn’t reach it.



She forgot that Gracie gets in the bathtub (2 feet off the floor) after her dinner. She could reach that bag.
Notice the large hole.
Dan is buying more apples today.

That’s all this week.
Take care.

January 22, 2010

We’re hibernating up here in the western part of Massachusetts!


The dogs love it though.
Get a look at our zebra Newf!




Who is that?



It’s the wonderful Bess!
She’s guarding a chewie she’s brought in from outside.
Nothing like frozen chewies.

Thought we’d catch you up with the pups new names. . .
River Bear Toro
River Bear Onyx
River Bear Apollo
River Bear Diana
River Bear Dakota
River Bear Mighty Little Mollie
River Bear Maggie
River Bear Shaq
River Bear Roxie

We have heard that River Bear Mighty Little Mollie is also
AKA
River Bear Here Comes Trouble
and
River Bear “No! Stop that, that is not Yours!”

Here’s some pictures sent over that last few weeks.



Maggie’s profile taken on a cell phone.



Apollo and Diana have joined another pack.



They are making themselves at home.



Roxie went to a home with River Bear Molson already in charge.



They have been doing lazy Newf wrestling.

Maggie’s owners made us a smile box.
It’s very cute, but it won’t play on the log.



And for some reason the link to Toro’s blog stopped working.
Let’s try that again.

Toro ‘n Kola’s Blog

One last picture from our crew. Lunch is served.



That’s all this week.
Take care.

January 8, 2010

Sometimes it’s best not to ask. . .



We have no idea what that was about.

A short log today and a link!

First story.



This is a silver pitcher that NEEDED polishing.
 Melanie got bored and decided to take a picture of it because the tarnish was pretty.

The rest of the story???
We got a polishing dip and Melanie was using it on a bowl and then the pitcher and was getting way too much help. First Patsy came over to see what she was doing. Since the directions warned of getting the stuff on anything but silver, she nudged Patsy away with her hip. Then Franklin’s big nose came up. She nudged him away. Then Katy, Grace, Rose, Mac, Ros and Rose all had to see what was going on. .

It wasn't until Dan came over and said "How can you handle that smell?"  that she realized the dogs why the dogs were interested!
Dan said it smelled of rotten eggs.  Melanie says that sometimes it's good to have allergies. She couldn’t smell a thing.

The second story is about the bathroom.
The upstairs bathroom had wallpaper from the 60’s or earlier on it. Zoë decided enough was enough and Jessie (our ‘go to’ guy) peeled the wall paper off. Of course, when you do something like that you find other stuff. Like mold all under the wallpaper. So he had to bleach the walls, sand them and then paint.

It looks great.
And we were very proud of ourselves for having kept the dogs out of the way for two days.

That is until Jessie finished and we were all upstairs to see the great job and Katy decided to see what the big deal was about.



Yup, that’s white paint all over her nose.

The Spring seed and plant catalogues are coming in. McKey is pushing for a Gala apple tree.
Zoë says that’s fine but it has to be in the back behind the stockade so the apples we don’t pick can fall into the stockade for the dogs to eat!

One of Katy’s pups, now named Toro, has a blog with his buddy.
Need more dog entertainment?

Toro ‘n Kola’s Blog

That’s all this week,
Stay warm.

Happy Newf Year!

The puppies have all gone to their new homes so
what better way to bring in the New Year than with pictures?

The trip to the Cardiologist.



Getting ready to go to the van.



Or not.



Brave Misses White and Yellow!



Or at least Miss White.



Getting them safely in their crates.



Another two weeks and they probably wouldn’t have fit.

A successfull visit and already one pup has gone home.
Met the new owner at the vets.



Here are some . .



here are the others.
Where are they going?



Oh, the big dogs are out to greet them.



What are the big dogs lining up for in the stockade?



An Aww Moment.



We had four puppies staying with us at Christmas.
Notice the puppy fence.

We took all the paper and boxes and recycled it all in the middle of the room.



We get to do what??



They caught on right away.









Boxes are cool.



So’s fighting with your sister.



Even good things get you tired though.

We said, crying at times, goodbye to the nine puppies.
All have gone to excellent homes leaving us feel a bit empty inside.

Hmmm . . .

Of course, there are ten other dogs here, that have been waiting for their time in the sun or snow as the case may be.



Since a snow ball fight is out,
what better than a tussle in the snow?

That’s Grace on the bottom, Katie chewing her neck and Rosie waiting for her turn.



Rosie gets her turn and Franklin is waiting.
Gracie is totally enjoying this.



The big thing to do though is wait for the snow plow.
Then the dogs take off down the stairs into the play yard and bark their heads off.



Sometimes it’s a long wait.



River Bear Robert’s Mr. McKey
aka
Mac, Macadoo, Macarooni, and Macapoodle.



River Bear McKey’s Rosalyn
aka
Ros, Rosaroo, and Rosarooni

We are always finding Mattie in strange places.
Is it because she is our smallest Newf?



Bowater Waltzing Mathilda
aka
Mattie, Mattie Wattie, Mattie Patati and Miss Mattie

She likes the rocking chair.



Sometimes a girl just needs her teddy.

On the home front, Melanie is doing much better. Turns out she was sick and when she went into the hospital (as the oncologist put it) the hysteria started. She is Cancer Free after 3 1/2 months of being told she had a cancerous tumor. She is feeling better now that she is recovering from four biopsies.

We are looking forward to a great 2010!

Have a Healthy, Prosperous and Happy Newf Year!
Take care.

December 18, 2009

(Okay, it’s really the 19th, but we got tired.)

Pictures of a Puppy’s Day. . .



First, play a little soccer with your brothers.



Play with Auntie Grace.



Explore with your buddy.



Take a nap with your buddy.



Eat.
Their manners are much better, but they still are Newfoundlands.



Watch Katie eat.



Play after getting bored watching mom eat.

The pups went for the well puppy check!
They are fine.
Of course, there were nine of them. When getting them back in the Subaru, the vet staff counted incorrectly.
As Dan and Zoë were getting in the car, someone came running out with a pup! He had fallen asleep behind the door.
Here they are (all of them) back from the vets.



That’s Dan holding up the door, and Jesse (best worker ever, loves the dogs and the puppies) making sure every one is out.



Herding nine puppies.
Harder than you think.



Hey, where are the shoelaces?



The puppies are now heavy enough to break through the crust on the snow.



Whoops.

We had friends over and opened up the living room to the puppies. Melanie thought she’d puppy proofed the room.



Need to recycle catalogs?



Puppies are very good at it.



This was very funny.



It was also very messy.

Which is good . . .

Because when the pups are so very cute, as when they wake Zoë up to play, . . .



or lie quietly in her arms to get groomed,



we just might decided not to let them go!

That’s all this week.

Take care.

December 11, 2009



Yes, it’s getting colder. Bit of frost the first of the week and then a six inch snow storm!

So here for your enjoyment . . .

THE PUPPIES’ FIRST SNOW!



Have to think about that first step.



Miss Yellow has made it down and likes to eat the snow.



Others need to think first.



Miss Pink trying to get back up the step.
(Zoë ended up boosting little butts.)



Under the step is always interesting,



Or not.



Someone is giving the puppy on the step quite a look.



Then it’s a pile up.



Puppy with snow face!



Sniffing was big.



Ms. White taking a break.



Mr. Orange thinking about going in,



or not.



Wooly Newf-mammoths.



Hmmm.
Not sure we will let this lot go.
What’s nineteen dogs when you’re used to ten?




The next storm was on Wednesday when Dan and Melanie went to Boston. That gave us twelve inches of new snow and the great news that Melanie is Cancer Free!

That’s all this week.
Take care.

December 4, 2009

We’ve got lots of puppy pictures today. The first group were taken by our guest photographer, Chris Kingsbury, (McKey’s girlfriend) on Saturday before they left. She did a great job!



Don’t know which one is cuter.



An almost asleep puppy.
We’re not sure why they like the intake vent to the furnace.
Maybe because it’s cool and they’re Newfoundlands?



Sleeping pup.



Another sleeping pup.
Nothing bothers them when they are sleeping.



Of course, it’s a problem when you’re trying to get up from sleeping in a pile. This is Miss Pink awaking amidst her brothers and sisters.



The look on Mr. Orange’s face is because someone is biting his tail.



Waiting for mom to come in.
That reminds us of poor Grace.
Grace loves the puppies. She likes to visit them. Until this week. Zoë let her in thinking that she was Katie.
When Zoë looked around Grace was on the backside of the bed, closest to the wall, sheer panic on her face.
The pups have grown and can now nurse standing up . . .
Grace was not ready for that. They have teeth!




Miss Pink posing.



McKey’s High School was having an Alum Show to raise money for new chairs. He’s protecting himself from drool before he goes.
For members of Facebook, you can go on Zoë’s site and see the monologue he did. Chris put it up.

THANKS CHRIS!



Franklin and Mattie stealing a moment together.
Mattie looks like a Shar Pei and lab mix.
We had her shaved down; she really had the itchies.



Learning to escape the whelping box.



Those pups will really sleep anywhere.
They remind Melanie of Rob (now 30) when he was two. He’d go and go and then fall asleep in his spaghetti.

FIRST TIME OUTSIDE!



They are on the track of something.



Mom!
They are learning about fast food.



Katie has caught someone for a cleaning.



They love to be right by your feet.
Have to really watch where we’re walking now.



The step was beyond them.



Mr. Green tried though.



Miss Pink posing again.



She’s definitely a posing pooch.
Or, she just stays in one place long enough to take her picture.



FIGHT!

Just had to put up a picture from River Bear Snuffleupagus and River Bear Mufas.

This is what their owners see when they go up the stairs.



That’s all this week.
Take care.

November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have no stories about the dogs getting the Thanksgiving dinner. That’s because we’re actually having it today! Here’s hoping they still don’t get the Thanksgiving turkey.

Puppy pictures today!!

First sometimes it’s just you and a stuffed animal.



Not sure what that stuffed animal said, but the puppy must have heard something.



They love the tents.



Miss Purple in an upside down tent.


They can almost get in and out of them without tripping.



We think there’s a puppy under the tent, besides two in it.



Yup, in fact, that’s two puppies under the tent.

The puppies had a
THANKSGIVING VISITOR!



That’s Aunt Grace!
Unlike Ros and Rose she doesn’t seem to consider the puppies squeeky toys or soccer balls.



They liked Grace.



She likes them!

Let the fights begin!



Two have one on his back.
He’s loving it.



Licking, biting, it’s all the same when it comes to your sisters and brothers.



Free for all.



Time for a water break.

Back to the tent.



Having a wonderful time chewing on the side.



Trying to get out and another pup notices.



Hey, get back in there!

Have fun this week. If you’re looking for that perfect gift, check out Rob Carpenter’s (Dan and Zoë’s Grandson) and Andrea Gianchiaglia’s (Rob’s Significant Other) cafepress shop. Lot’s of art work that can be put on shirts and lots of other stuff. In fact, you just might see some of our dogs in there.

Andrea’s and Rob’s store link!

Zoë did the pictures this week.
Big family dinner coming up,
Take care.

November 20, 2009

A couple of stories and then on to the pups!

Melanie came downstairs to Mac having a wonderful time trying figure out the Blue Cheese Dressing bottle.



Somehow when he chewed the top off, he also chewed it shut.
Thank goodness.

Dan woke up this morning with four large dogs on the bed with him. He decided to carefully get up and grab the camera, come back and take a picture. It was working perfectly, until Ros caught sight of him sneaking down the stairs and said good morning with her wookie talk. That woke all the dogs up and the pictures were out of the pictures.

PUPPIES!

They have grown a lot this week. They are up and about, fighting (sort of) with each other, eating out of plates and then collapsing to rest up.



They like the walk-through toy. They’ve been in and out of it.



Waiting their turn to nurse from Katy.



Eating out of plates.
Well, actually pans.



They are also of the age of moving fast and Melanie missing the picture of their faces.



Walking about.



It’s exciting time for the puppies.



Trying to nurse while Katy is standing.
They’re not quite tall enough yet.



Trying to bite a sister.



Getting tired or just grinning?



Franklin meeting Mr. Orange!

Take care.

November 13, 2009

First: on November 20th our hughes.net email account will be no more. The new address (usable right now) is montaguecarpenter@gmail.com.

Next a Rosie story: Melanie was cooking her oatmeal in the microwave and went into the living room to play with the new computer. It is awesome. She knew even though she was not in the kitchen her breakfast was safe because none of the dogs can open the microwave door. Playing on the computer is fun, minutes passed, more minutes passed when she heard a fuss from the kitchen, yelled, and heard a dog get off the counter. Rosie came in, licking her lips, while Melanie played some more and then went into to get her breakfast.

That’s when she remembered she had poured herself a glass of cranberry/apple juice. The glass was now less than a quarter full. Now being in a home with 10 adult Newfoundlands, we just usually drink our drinks even if someone has licked out of it. But it appears that Rosie not only likes cranberry/apple, she also drools a great deal while drinking it.

That glass was covered in slime. Melanie who will usually take a picture of anything, actually didn’t take a picture of that! She also did not drink the rest of the juice, but rinsed the glass out and put it in the sink.

On to the PUPPIES!

The rest of this log is about puppies eating very wet puppy food for the first time!

Enjoy!



Zoë pictured three plates with three puppies eating.



While she was bringing more puppies in,
puppies were getting lost.



She ended up putting the pups on the plates.



They enjoyed that.







Nothing like getting into your food.



Adorable!





Then they started losing the concept.



They could smell the food, but locating it was a problem.



Nine pups without a clue.



They started getting tired.



After this they got back in their whelping box and proceeded to lick each other clean.

What a joy they are!

Take care.

November 10, 2009

Happy Two Week
Birthday!

Here’s some birthday pictures!



They still sleep a lot.



They might look brown, but that’s the photograph and trying to get the facial features. They are black.



Little bit of a milk chin!





Zoë bought new stuffed animals.
This Dalmatian is worth conquering.



And then tumbling off the other side.

Oh, and the other big news . . .

Their eyes are beginning to open!



Right on schedule.

Take care.

November 6, 2009

Got one good picture today, just had to put it up!

Lovely Close Up!



They sure sleep a lot!

Take care.

November 5, 2009

Just two new pictures. Melanie is a little out of it.

Puppies are a week old.
Here’s the windswept look.



And trying to move around can be difficult.



Take care,
More later this week.

October 28, 2009

The Good News!

We have NINE healthy puppies!



This was taken at the vet’s office.
When we were called after the c-section, we discovered that Katie just couldn’t handle twelve puppies in her. We THOUGHT we heard him say we had EIGHT healthy pups.
So when we arrived to get Katie and pups there were NINE!
So some sadness and a lot of LOVE!



Close up of squirming pups.

Melanie drove the van and Zoë sat on the floor in back with Katie and pups. Katie was not a problem, the puppies kept trying to crawl out of the box.

Katie was exhausted, did not know what to think about those crawling, mewling things, and promptly went to sleep. She had been so big that she hadn’t been able to lie down for four days.

The Pack, on the other paw, could hear and smell them, and KNEW that they could help out, even the males knew they could help, they all stood at the door of the West Wing, making it very difficult to get in and out of the door.
We banished them from the living room giving us a bit of room to move about. They are much better today.
Well, except for Grace, who wants to know why her best friend has a bunch of squeaky toys she can’t play with.

This morning Katie started enjoying her puppies.
She licks them, let’s them nurse, doesn’t mind the pee, but will not clean up the poop at this point.
Melanie told Zoë we should let Patsy clean up after them. Her puppies were always wet because she cleaned them constantly.



Katie and crew today.
Oh, four males and five females.
We have their yarn on, we know that two of the females (we think) have white milk chins, and someone has white underneath of the paws.
We’ll have to work on that.

Some close ups of puppies.





Dr. Constant wasn’t sure Katie’s milk would come in, so Zoë bottle fed everyone through the night last night. Today her milk appears to becoming in!!
Dan helped out today with the feeding, finding missing pups (they like to hide behind their mother) and taking care of the rest of the pack.



Zoë bottle feeding Miss Red.

We’ll be updating the log either Sunday or Monday. Melanie’s going in for more tests and won’t be back until Saturday.

The Nine Pups are happy and healthy, but this is the time to keep good thoughts and prayers coming for them. Newfoundlands puppies are at risk for the first two to three weeks.

Round the clock care for our little pack, so if you email, we will get back to you, but it might take a day or two.

That’s all until Sunday,
Take care.

October 23, 2009

You know the saying . . .

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words ?

Try

A Picture Is Worth Twelve Thousand Words. . .



That’s Katie’s x-ray.
All the white things that look like spinal cords and heads?
They are.
Dr. Constant counted TWELVE puppies!

Whew!

The Story: Zoë and Melanie took Katie to Dr. Constant’s on Tuesday. Katie is very good at sitting and panting. In fact, when Dr. Constant came into the room that is what she was doing. Dr. Constant looked at Katie, took her temperature, and got a strange look on his face. Zoë asked if Katie was okay. He said yes, but still had that look on his face. He then felt her tummy. His comment was, pretty well packed. And out Katie went to get her x-rays.

Craig, wonderful technician, great with dogs, came back in with Katie and a small smile on his face. Hmm. Then Dr. Constant came back in and asked Zoë what he had said at the ultra-sound. She told him 8 to 10 and she was figuring 8. He said, “Try Twelve!”

So Zoë and Melanie were in shock. He put the x-ray and Wow, that’s a lot of puppies. He says they all look good and so does Katie.

Katie will be going in for a C-Section on Tuesday.

Zoë has a call into Kathy Luce (Dingle Newfoundlands) for the logistics of very large litters!

There is no other news that we can remember, here are some more pictures of the other dogs.



New ball. Pink this time. Has lasted longer than any other.



That ball can really disappear.



Ellie, left and Mac waiting for something to happen.



Disappearing Bess!

That’s all this week.
Will post when the pups are born.
Take care.

October 15, 2009

The question is . . .

How’s Katie doing?



Looking a bit bigger, isn’t she?
That’s not more fur down there, that’s tummy.
Here’s a close up.



Don’t forget she’s still has just under 2 weeks to go!

We’ll be downstairs and hear barking from upstairs.
It’s Bess.



She drinks out of the bathtub only, right now she’s wondering what took us so long.



Waiting for us.



Yup, tub water is the best!

That’s all this last two weeks.
Take care.

October 2, 2009 (Yes, we know it’s the third, but things got busy yesterday)

Katie’s
Pregnant!

Here’s the pictures from her vet visit!



Zoë with our Katie Sweetheart.
Looks a bit low to the ground there, doesn’t she?



We don’t think she weighs enough to bend the car over like that yet, we think the car is on a slant of hill.



In with the best vet ever! Dr. Constant is using the ultra sound to see what’s in there.



This is what he sees. We don’t understand what he sees. But he’s happy.



Now this shows puppies. They are very small right now and are in the black portion of the ultrasound. We think the x and the dots are important.

He keeps moving the machine against Katie’s belly and more things showed up. Zoë said it looked like an apartment building in there.

Dr. Constant says . . .

Eight to Ten Puppies!

Whew!

The Pack anxiously waiting to hear the news.




Aren’t they cute?

Here’s Katie, home and a bit weary.



We’re proud of her!

That’s all this week,
Take care.

September 25, 2009

First of all:

All the dogs are fine!

We believe Katy is pregnant.
She is being fussy about her food AND she wants to eat all the time. Also she ‘poofs’ on her sides.
We will be taking her to the vet sometime next week.

It’s all Melanie’s fault that Katy didn’t get to the vet, but Melanie is back from Mass General with their biopsies and probings. She is now well drooled on and waiting for the next step.
The dogs are a big help, everyone of them comes in during the day to check on her.

Thanks for your support, prayers, thoughts and yes, the cannon fire.

That’s all this week,
Take care.


September 11, 2009

Melanie is a bit under the weather. Considering that it is raining, cold and breezy, that says a lot.

So the log is short and two pictures. We continue to hope that Katie is gestating. She looks good. Still don’t have a great picture of her to post, but Melanie’s good camera battery is on it’s way snail mail.

Here’s two pictures from this week.



Melanie is wondering if Bess actually has dreams of no gravity.
She sure can get comfortable.
Notice how big the sofa looks.



Zoë and her lap dog, Franklin.
Somehow when Franklin gets on the sofa it looks smaller.

That’s all this week,
Take Care.

September 5, 2009

We are taking good care of Katy. She is a sweetheart. Dan dreamed that we could already tell how many puppies she has. It was a process called Foliation. This would be great. Unfortunately, in the real world, we still have to wait until September 24th to find out if she’s pregnant.

She and Grace are not allowed on the morning walk/run. They are still hormonal and less likely to stay with the pack. So Zoë is taking three long walks in the morning.

We’re linking for the rest of the log! First a picture by Roseann Benson. Dingle Newfoundland’s Cleopatra, (Kathy Luce’s kennel) is in the log earlier sailing, but not only does she do sports, she is also a patron of the Arts.

Cleo amongst some really Big Dogs.





Those are some really big dogs.
Called The Big Dog Show, Cleo visited it at the Beverly Commons, in Beverly, MA.
The artist is Dale Rogers.
Here’s a link to when and where this art installation will be.
Dale Rogers’ The Big Dog Show.

Not only does Roseann Benson take wonderful photos, she wrote an article about her family’s vacation with Cleo.
It’s in the web site Travel Lady.

Here’s the link.
137 Pound Dog Friendly Vacation.


That’s all this week,
Take Care.

August 28, 2009

Happy 10th Birthday Eleanor!!



All the dogs were glad it was Eleanor’s birthday.
They got steak. Eleanor got the most.
She wanted to know why she didn’t get more steak the day after her birthday.

So as we announced . . .

After two rendezvous . . .

And if Katie is pregnant . . .

Here’s the Dad!

Ch Nashau-Aukes Little Big Man
Call name: Jonah
Breeders: Jane Thibault & Joanne Brainard
Owners: Robert and Carlene Kosakowsk & Joanne Brainard




Isn’t he good looking?
Oh, yes, that sign there does say Best of Breed, Westminster Kennel Club, 2009.
Pretty cool.
He’s also a sweetheart.
He loves to carry around a stuffed animal where ever he goes.
Tuesday, he had a stuffed duck.
Thursday, he had a stuffed money.
Of course, as soon as he saw Katie, stuffed animals were forgotten!



Melanie will try to post a portrait for this next Friday’s post. Usually, she’s hanging out with Grace and Rose and is dirty with her tongue hanging sideways.

Important Dates:
If Katy is pregnant. . .

Around September 24th, we’ll take her to Dr. Constant (best vet ever). He’ll palpate her and see if there are any puppies in there.
We’ve tried palpating, can’t find a thing, even when it’s the right time.

If she’s pregnant and everything goes great, she’s due around

October 27th!

“Now let’s get something straight people,” we write sternly.
“For the nine weeks following the birth, those are our puppies to play with and take care of. Yes, we’ll let you pry them out of our arms (maybe) after their hearts check out, but don’t think you get to steal any of those puppies early. We might let you play with them after they get their shots at 6 weeks. It depends. We’re pretty selfish when it comes to puppy time. It’s been a year and a half since we’ve had any puppy time!

Also this week:



Dan took this picture of black pony and Newfoundland sleeping.

With the heat (which finally broke) the dogs spent a lot of time indoors.
Here’s a game . . .



It’s called, Guess Where Zoë Is?
All ten of the pack are there.

That’s all this week.
Take care.

August 25, 2009

DAN IS FINE!


Sorry, we’ve been pretty busy around here. Today is our first day off. Pacemakers are pretty cool. He now has color in his face and is busy doing things. He can be around microwave ovens, but he can’t put the cell phone in his shirt pocket. Who’d have guessed? Not only that, but the docs can now program his pacemaker through the telephone. That is so science fiction.

First two stories, and then some more good news.

FIRST STORY

Zoë had Katie, on leash, going for a walk up River Road.
A car, coming down the hill on West Main, saw her and turned, slowed down and told her he had just seen a big black bear cross West Main going on the property that Zoë was walking next to.
He followed Zoë and Katie until he felt they were safe, and went on his way.

A shout out to that Guy!
THANKS!

SECOND STORY


Melanie decided to watch the meteor shower. Of course, in this house, that proved difficult. She tells the story below in her own words.

Last night, being the best night for seeing the Perseid meteor shower, I went out as it grew dark. I was sitting on the back deck, talking to my sister, Martha on the phone, when all hell broke loose. Grace was coming through the dog door when she noticed a black shape with a
hood up talking on the phone. She started barking madly, which got
all the dogs barking madly, so I had to go in and turn the light on to show them it was me. So they decided to come out with me.

The sky was darkening, the stars were brightening, the dogs were
barking again. There was something on the island behind the house!
Or at least they thought there was. Between yelling and telling them
to come, they calmed down.

Rob, my son, called and he was outside looking up at the sky at his house. He wasn’t seeing anything then, but had seen a meteor earlier in the week. Big one and colored green. Pretty cool.

We hung up and Rose fell asleep on my feet. Grace by my left side and Mattie on my right. I stayed out until a
glaze of clouds covered the stars. I could just see a couple of planets that was it. So I went in. Woke up around 12:30 and looked out, but the glaze was still there. Didn't wake up until morning after that.

So no meteors but the dogs and I had a good time. Got to bark and watch the sky. What could be better?

So the other good news is . .

KATIE IS IN HEAT!

She is really in heat, so is Grace, but she’s much too young and hasn’t had her clearances. Zoë has been running Katie back and forth to the vets (from up here that’s over an hour each way) for tests. Looks like the event will happen sometime this week. The dad will (hopefully) be Nashau - Auke Little Big Man. We say hopefully, because you never know with Newfoundlands. Not only that but we won’t know if she’s pregnant for five weeks after that. Human pregnancy tests don’t work on dogs, we’ve tried. Any inspiring vet researchers out there? Pregnancy tests for dogs, that’s the way to go.

So wish Katie luck!

With all the running around we’ve been doing . . . today we’re going to act like Bess.



She’s not falling.
She is perfectly balanced!

That’s all for this week,
Take care.

August 13, 2009

The Log will continue next week, August 21st.
This Friday Dan is going in for a pace maker.
Please keep us in your thoughts.

Take care.

August 7, 2009

Remember that picture of the mountain? We couldn’t follow up on that because the van decided to have no brakes. Luckily, there were only humans in the van when we discover it. Zoë got as far as the neighbor’s when she pushed the brake down and nothing happened!

She and Dan got home with the emergency brake. Whew . . . So don’t know when that thread will continue but at least you know it has to do with THAT mountain and the van and the dogs.

Mostly pictures this week. Melanie took the first two, then her batteries died. Dan took the others!

Garden pictures continue!




Dan’s got tomatoes!!!!
You can just see the little green ones, and a red in the background.
We are looking forward to those.

Grace has also been gardening.
If only we could get her to put something in her holes and then cover them up.



Pretty moss beside Grace’s large crater.

Next is river time with the dogs.



Zoë with whistle. The dogs are trained to come to her when she whistles. It’s difficult to say . .
“Come, Ellie, Bess, Patsy, Mattie, Mac, Ros, Franklin, Rose, Katie and Grace.”
You run out of breath.



Drink break.
The rock is an outcropping that comes from under the house.
The rock has small pieces of garnet crystal in it.
To the lower left is the tadpole pool.
The rain has washed the tadpoles out this year.



Rose and Franklin lower right.
Rose had problems that day.
The white in the back are rapids. Now Franklin likes to ride the rapids. Rose discovered she did not.
She was whimpering when she got out and all the dogs went over to see if she was okay.
(The rapids are also great for humans to tube over)





Ellie



Treat time



Isn’t that cool?



They are down there with Zoë right now while the log is getting written.



Time to come home.

That’s all this week,
Take care.

August 1, 2009

When last seen, Melanie’s 5+ square foot garden had a pea blossom. Well, we have done our first harvest and had a salad.



They were delicious. We added the squash (it was a little bigger when we picked it.)




We’re still waiting on Dan’s tomatoes. It’s been really wet.

For some reason things got busy here. If it wasn’t Melanie going somewhere, it was Dan and Zoë. Through out it all the dogs were well-behaved. That’s actually pretty frightening. Just what are they going to come up with next?

We have two wanderers when it comes to going to the Newf Pool beside the house. Mattie and Ros. Rose comes back.

So Zoë decided to run a line with a pulley across the river and hook up our wanderers, so they couldn’t wander.

She took Ellie and Mattie out to try it out.



Melanie went out to take pictures.
It was early in the morning.
She couldn’t find the camera for looking.
When she finally found it (right where it belongs) she went out to the bridge. By that time, the dogs were in the bushes. You can just barely see Ellie as a black sort of top of Newf shape.

This worked for two times.
Then Zoë said the heck with it and took
ALL TEN DOGS
down to the river together.

They were fine. They enjoy being a pack.

Of course, we haven’t any pictures because Melanie was busy for the days Zoë took them down and the last three days, the rain has been so hard, that the dogs would get swept away.

Speaking of hard rain . . .

Franklin is a BIG dog.
He weighs 168 pounds and we think half of that is his head.
He is magnificent.
He is what a working dog should look like.
He should be dashing off the decks of ships to save people.
He should be swimming the nets for fishermen.
He should be carting heavy objects.
He should be leading Lewis and Clark.
He should be standing and sniffing into the wind to see where he can help.

Hmm.

Then it thunders.



Here’s our wonder dog Franklin, the lap dog.

He is sitting (sort of) with Zoë, hiding his huge head so she’ll save him.
He’s such a sweetie pie.

The next picture is a set up for next week.



The set up is because Melanie needs to do this so she remembers to take the correct pictures next week.


That’s all this week.
Take care.

July 24, 2009

Mostly pictures today! We had two surprises for the dogs this week. They enjoyed them tremendously.



What on EARTH?

The turtle sprinkler makes a comeback.
(It was finally sunny and warm.)



You can see the turtle here.
That’s Mac with his mouth over the top.



Whoops, he let go and Rosie’s got it now.



Wet Frank



Katie on left and Rosie on right taking a break.

The next surprise we’ve had for awhile, but none of us were up to the directions, so we waited for a visit from McKey AND it was sunny. (sort of)

The Lady Bug Tent!



First reaction. Hmm, wait a minute the wind has turned over the tent.



Here it is.



That’s McKey throwing treats inside to prime the pump so to speak.



Okay, now someone or two are inside it and have turned it over.
Not sure if that’s a head or tail trying to come out the bottom.



Okay, four tails and how many bodies?



Two tailed dog.



Whoa, what was that?



A motorcycle went by.




Back to the tent.



And to think, the tent has NOT died.
It is in the shed. It poured rain here last night and we figured the next sunny day, the dogs will enjoy it again.

News from the Litters:

River Bear Isabelle (Mac and Mattie pup, MA) sent in a great story.


Just a cute picture and story for you. Isabelle is not around very many babies so she gets confused as to what she should do.She tends to gently herd them around,but when one little guy got too rambunctious she ever so gently sat on him to keep him still!! Fortunately his mother thought is was hysterical and we gave new meaning to the word babysitting.This is just a picture of Iz with our neighbors little boy, her temperament is so sweet and gentle, we couldn't love her more!!



We told you about McKey meeting on of Frank's pups on the North Shore. They sent us a picture.

He introduced himself and asked if he could pet Cleo.  When he told us his parents raise River Bear Newfoundlands, I revealed (ala day time television paternity shocker) that Franklin was, indeed, Cleo's daddy.  Anyway, we made the paper - you can see Cleo's head, sort of.


Dingle Newfoundlands Cleopatra

That’s all this week.
Take care.

July 17, 2009




This is NOT a Landseer.

In every house that has ten Newfoundlands,
there comes a time to paint.

The living room (peaceful green and white), and the kitchen and family room (warm sunny yellow) are now painted.

Dan and Jesse (our guy who helps us out, he’s wonderful) did really well with keeping the dogs and paint separate, but during the trim work Franklin got through the door.



Here’s the big guy after painting. He looks like he’s in the sun.

On a completely different note:
Melanie went out to look at her garden and found her pea plants had a flower!



Isn’t it pretty?
Melanie isn’t much on weeding and care taking of plants, but she thought she’d help out with the greening of our environment.



She used tires that have been at the house since we’ve moved in 9 1/2 years ago. Filled them with dirt.
She’s got two different kinds of squash, peas and beans.
The plants in front are Nasturtiums.

Dan decided on tomatoes.
He’s got three different kinds; two heritage tomatoes and one climbing.



Back to the dogs!

Here’s some play yard fun.



This is a picture of the beautiful Grace.



Rose is in the middle here playing with the hula hoops.
Franklin to the left and Katie (?) upper right.



Fun in the Sun.





Ros in her puppy cut.

We are not using the van as much as we used to. Those gas prices might be lower, but they are not LOW. So the van is mostly used for the morning walk / run to the state forest. The dogs are not a problem going to the state forest, they are all very eager to get in the van, it was coming home that was a problem. Ros, Rosie or Mattie wouldn’t want to go inside the house, and try to escape into the neighborhood.

Well, Dan fixed the problem and added a toy for the dogs.

We’ve got one section (called the puppy play yard) where he built the gate large enough for the van to get in and out. So now we just park the van inside there and get the dogs in the van and drive out and back in. Much easier on the nerves.

So here are the dogs in their new toy.



When Melanie came out to take a picture, Mattie had been seating in the driver’s seat, she got out (of course) when Melanie got there.
That’s Katie in the van now.



Mattie on the left, Mac sitting down, Franklin in the middle, someone next to Franklin and Katie in the passenger seat.



Mac in back and Grace winking.



Mac in his puppy cut.



Ready to go!

News: River Bear Mufasa and River Bear Snuffy are both Mattie / Mac pups but from different litters. They sent some pictures in.







That’s all this week.
Take care.

July 10, 2009

Melanie went on vacation!! She went back to Marblehead for a few days to visit McKey (he’s directing out there). It was fun though wet. So no pictures again from our crew, but one of our puppies who lives in Colorado, sent in some pictures. River Bear Rowen was a Patsy, Mac pup and was the smallest in the litter. Which was good then, because to fly her home with them she had to be under some number of pounds. She appears to take after her mother.

It has been a while since I emailed, so I thought I should let you know how Rowen is doing.  Rowen is now about 130 pounds (very tall and long, but also very thin) and is just the most beautiful newf I have ever seen.  She is also probably the sweetest...  we found a 4 week-old kitten a few weeks ago and Rowen cannot get enough of her.  She grooms her so much that the kitten is permanently damp.  When the kitten is sleeping in her basket, Rowen uses her mouth to pull the basket between her paws so she can watch the kitten sleep.  Rowen has been out in the field with me a lot this summer and has gotten to do a lot of hiking, camping and rafting.  She is really an easy dog- she listens so well and stays right with us.  Also, we are amazed at what a strong swimmer she is- if we hang onto her sides, she will tow us in from the middle of the river to the shore with no trouble at all!  She is such a great dog...  we love her so much!
 
Attached are a couple of pictures of her - most also have Indi in them- hard to avoid because she and Indi are pretty inseparable, which is cute because Indi looks like a tiny version of Rowen!  In the picture of her by herself, she looks just like a bear.

Here she is!



It sure is pretty out there in Colorado.



That’s all this week,
Take care.

July 3, 2009

Melanie took out both cameras today . . OH NO! Not a single picture. It has been horrible weather here. Rain, then rain, then downpours, then rain, then sprinkles, then rain, then downpours. Yuck. We’re all going moldy here.

So she decided to explain homeland security.

Right now the entire downstairs is open. Starting from the west wing this means. The west wing’s living area (used to be a separate apartment), the living room, the front hall way, the family room into the dog room.

The dogs love it. They have stationed one or two dogs in the west wing on the sofa. The windows are low enough that they can keep an eye out for intruders. That means; anyone walking, running, biking, or skating, large trucks, cars that look wrong (haven’t figured out why they’re wrong; still working on that), motorcycles and dogs. The main dog is the cocker spaniel that lives across the river. That dog pays NO attention to our dogs which just gets their goat.

Well, the dogs stationed in the west wing start barking. This starts a cacophony of barking through out the house. Upstairs, downstairs and outside. It is truly surround sound. Dolby Sound has nothing on ten Newfoundlands barking.

If the message is strong enough we have ten Newfoundlands barreling through the house to get out the dog door to rush down to the play yard where they act like complete idiots.

Since it’s been pouring . . . they then come in completely drenched, adding to the humidity in the house. In fact, we turned on the air conditioners the other day, even though it was 70 degrees, just to get rid of some of the humidity. Not very green, but at least we could breathe.

So homeland security is up and working. Then there is Sam coming over. Sam is our neighbor’s golden retriever. He loves coming over and seeing the dogs. He gets them running up and down the fence and barking. Then he leaves and goes home. Quite a sense of humor that Sam.

With the dogs being so wet when they go for the walk/run everything gets caught in their fur. So we’re having a summer cut done on them.

Mac was first. The groomer looked at him and said, “Macster! Did you explode?” He’s been trimmed down to about an inch. Looks adorable!

We got “new” furniture, Goodwill sofa and chairs. It does not make sense to buy anything else. The sofa is very comfortable. The dogs approve. We can fit two dogs and one human on it at the same time.

Well, we’re supposed to have sun tomorrow for the 4th! That’s cool. We’ll get some pictures for next week log.

Have a HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!


That’s all this week,
Take care.

June 26, 2009

Well, you’re in luck. Zoë took the camera on the walk/run this morning. If she hadn’t Melanie was thinking of taking pictures on which dog can get the most peanut butter off a spoon.

She still may . .

First: Dan and Zoë decided to get rid of the furniture. It was time. There are only so many years that two sofas and two chairs can handle ten Newfoundlands without dissolving.

Rachel, Will and James Bodine (grandchildren) were over for Father’s Day, James’ Birthday and the finishing of school celebration. They didn’t believe that we’d gotten rid of the furniture. They kept looking for it. We think they couldn’t believe we got rid of it, because they didn’t move it.

They are our movers, they are strong, hear them roar!

So we told you that to tell you this. No matter how empty a house is, when it has ten Newfoundlands it’s still full. They just spread out more.

We’ve gotten a few things. Here’s a hassock that Mac enjoys. He loves that he almost fits. He’s trying to eat a bone.



It’s a big hassock.

Bess, the Empress, is the only dog allowed to drink out of the bathtub.



She gets in on her own and then waits.



Best water ever!

Why is Grace back in the closet?



She’s had a tiring yet wonderful morning.

You see,
the bugs have gotten very bad in the woods where Dan and Zoë go for the walk/run in the morning.

Now it is a walk/swim!




(In a soft voice over with a slight French accent)
“And here we find the rare Massachusetts water hippo . .”



Whoops, it’s just ROSIE!



Mattie is definitely enjoying herself.

Zoë and Ellie went to the local WalMart as part of
“meet your local volunteers.”
There were firefighters and EMTs and Therapy Dogs.
Ellie liked the two chihuahuas.
Eleanor is more puppy than therapy dog in water.



What does she see?



Checking out under the water.



She’s such a cutie.

Then off for some grazing.





That’s all this week.
Take care.

June 19, 2002

It’s really the 20th, but don’t tell. It’s almost all pictures today.

Newfoundland Yoga



That’s Mattie.
Zoë found a really good place to scratch.

What are they doing now?



A two headed Newfoundland?
No, that’s Rosie and someone eating the lint from behind the dryer.



Now the reason why they are behind the dryer.
10 Newfoundlands = lots of fur
3 Newfoundlands blowing their coats = LOTS & LOTS & LOTS of fur
It’s been raining for days.
LOTS & LOTS & LOTS of WET FUR = Dryer won’t dry because stuffed full of wet fur.

The one day we had with sun was last weekend. Zoë had bought a huge ball. First Dan walked in the house wearing his new summer hat and holding the huge ball. This was not appreciated by the dogs. We had nervous pee in the west wing.

We then took it outside.







It was an all pack attack!
Then most of them said, Hey, it’s hot out here, time to lie down.

But not Gracie.



First a sniff.

Then the chase is on.









Hmm. She caught it and Franklin comes to see what’s going on.



Rose has to get in on the chase.





It’s hard to stop.



This one is here because Melanie loved the shadow of the ball.



Hit the brakes!






Primed . .



And take off is achieved!

That’s all this week.
Take care!

June 12, 2009

We have a few pictures and then two guest writers today!

Each dog is different.
Mattie sometimes just needs to get away.



Which is hard to do in a house with ten dogs, but she copes.
There is a little known dog rule . .
If you hide your head no one can see you.

Now why would Mattie like a little break?

Stuffed animals



Zoë went to the Goodwill and found two stuffed animals.
That’s not a Newfoundland Katie and Rose are chewing on, it’s a black pony.



Grace loves to chew.

Then there was (emphasis on was) the rooster.



We guess that Katie likes the breast and Grace likes the legs.
Now it can get really rough with the dogs.
They barrel around, rush out the door and bash back in.
It’s no wonder that Mattie hid.


We did find the chicken foot later.

Once a week, Zoë brushes up Eleanor and takes her to the hospital. It’s okay, it’s a people hospital and not a veterinary one.

Ellie is a Delta Partner Therapy dog and Zoë is her partner.

Our first guest writer is one of our puppy owners, (River Bear Sullivan, Mac and Patsy, MA) Sullivan’s owner is the person who got Zoë interested in having Ellie visit Berkshire Medical Center.

Here’s how Berkshire Medical Center first came into having therapy dogs visit.

In 2003 when Berkshire Medical Center adopted a national customer service program titled Planetree and began making strong efforts to incorporate the tenets of Planetree into the care of the patients, a pet therapy committee was formed.  This committee spent many hours discussing the vision of pet therapy at BMC and researching the best pet therapy organization with which to affiliate.  After much consideration, the committee chose the Delta Society, which has chapters across the U.S.  The committee felt that this was the most stringent organization therefore having the highest chance of success and safety with the animals that would be certified to be visiting at BMC.  The BMC pet therapy program, Caring Companions, recognizes only Delta Society certified animals.  This is to ensure safety and control of animals in the hospital.  In December of 2003 the first dog certified by the Delta Society at Berkshire Medical Center, Olivier, began visiting patients.  Since then the program has grown to ten sets of Pet Partners (pet partners consist of the animal and their owner with whom they are certified) visiting patients on various floors on a weekly basis. 
 
The program, which has adopted the name Caring Companions, offers regular workshops and evaluations to increase the number of certified dogs and animals.   The evaluation includes areas of obedience, reaction to hospital equipment, control exercises and overall frien’dliness.

Here is how Sullivan’s owner got involved with the program with her first Newfoundland Oliver.

The hospital adopted some of the new ideas available through the Planetree organization.  I saw a flyer in our newsletter and went to a meeting out of curiosity believing the hospital would never allow pets in the facility.  So after several meetings someone volunteered me to be chairperson.  Because the hospital didn’t have a Pet Therapy dog to begin with I tried with my Newfoundland, Olivier.  He was great and passed the evaluation the first time without any training at all.  Just one of those laid back, easy going dogs.  So after several meetings with administration, nurses, doctors and hospital managers I was able to convince them that this was a great thing.  Olivier and I went to all of the floors to try out the new program and everyone loved it.   The committee researched the many organizations to certify the dogs and decided on Delta Society because their policies were the most difficult.  We figured we would have the best dogs in our program and that has held true. 
 
I feel that this is a wonderful program.  It benefits staff members when they are having a bad day to just have a few minutes to pet and talk about the dogs.  It benefits the visitors in the facility who are stressed over a loved one.  And most importantly it brings to the patients a sense of home instead of a clinical feeling all the time while they are here.  I have experienced some amazing things while visiting in our facility.  Patients that are very depressed and won’t respond to anyone have actually smiled in the presence of a dog.  Patients that have difficulty moving will make an extra effort to pet a dog.  Patients in the middle of an anxiety attack have come out of it by concentrating on petting a dog.  Those are only a few of the many benefits of Pet Therapy in an acute care facility.

Here’s from Zoë . .

Eleanor in her Therapy outfit is a wondrous sight to see.  She is SO big and SO drooly and SO beautiful.  She loves  going to the hospital and is a perfect lady.  She wears her vest, her bib that says 'MAMA' and her collar that says she is a Delta Therapy dog.  She is the object of attention from patients, staff and visitors.  She loves this role.  And,  so do I.  Some stock phrases I use are:

"Yes, she does look like a bear!"

"She will be 10 in August"

"Yes, she does eat quite a bit..."

"Thank you, we think she is beautiful too!"

No one really listens to me, they just marvel at Eleanor. She doesn't do tricks, she just sits there and loves life.  


If you are interested in learning more about “pet therapy” or the Caring Companions program at BMC please contact the pet therapy line at 413-447-2114 Ext. 3657.  This is a growing program and Berkshire County needs to be aware that is thriving in facilities like BMC and bringing a lot of support and healing to patients in need. 
 Thank You,
Terry Cormier
Chairperson,
Pet Therapy Program
(413)447-2287

To find out more about The Delta Pet Partners, check out www.deltasociety.org.

Here’s two pictures of our therapy dog.



This painting of Eleanor is by Dan and Zoë’s grandson,
Rob Carpenter.
www.robcarpentertattoos.com



She’s such a sweetheart.

Thank you to our two guests!
That’s all this week.
Take care.

June 5, 2009

By the time Melanie had come down the stairs this morning, Zoë and Dan had thrown the dogs out twice.

First they got a hold of the brush Dan uses for grilling. It is now well chewed.

Second they got hold of the two mousetraps (not set) which Zoë had pulled out to put in her closet.

By the time Melanie got to the kitchen, the dogs were very apologetic, but she noticed the paw prints all over the counter. She thinks they are apologetic only when they get caught.

It’s been beautiful this last week. Melanie thought she would share with you the . . .

Dogs in the Play Yard!

First the Queen of the Yard is Bess.



She sits under the tree in the shade and starts the others barking.
They all come up to check on her and give her kisses.

The Middle Generation likes to join her.



This is Mac on the left and Ros on the right.
They also like to play, but only when they want to.

Grazing is a big part of being in the play yard.



That’s Rose on the left and Grace in the right back.

It’s Rose, Katie and Grace who really love to be “doing something” in the play yard.



They had all been down in the shade when the youngest three started running for the wall.

Here’s what they were after.



They were not fast enough.

Katie is our bug hunter.



That’s Katie, in back, looking for the bug and Gracie, in front, trying to figure out what she’s looking at.

Sometimes bugs can be scary.



Katie unsure about that bug, came and stood next to Melanie. But kept her eye on that area.

And then there are holes.
Grace is our tunneler. Her holes aren’t deep and they follow a crooked trail. We think she’s hunting moles.

Here’s her hole for the day.



She really gets into this.



Now Grace doesn’t like to share her holes, and the Rose and Katie want to find out what she’s doing.



Katie stands near Grace and tries to get her interested in something else.

Maybe if she digs over here.



Nothing doing.

So Rose gives it a try.



That didn’t work.
She’ll try again.



Yup, that worked.

Here’s Grace checking out the area, while Rose is digging.



Now Rose being who she is, doesn’t really want to dig so she does this.



That’s Rose laying on the hole while Grace looks on.

Finally, Rose leaves and lies down.
Only her nose tells the truth.



It’s dirty.

Grace gets her hole back.



That’s all this week.
Take care.

May 29, 2009

Melanie thought the house looked great, so took a picture.



It’s now safe to start planting. Our last frost was Tuesday.
Didn’t hurt the lilacs though, they are happily blooming.
This weekend we are putting in a SMALL garden.

Now a story! Remember we told you about the bears in the area. No don’t worry, no sightings here yet, but a neighbor up the road a piece is really being bothered by bears.

Up the road a piece, that’s rural talk for, turn here, then there, then here, then there, then here and then there, when actually they are less than a mile away as the raven flies. (We’ve got ravens, not many crows.)

So we are going to tape the dogs barking! Yes, a cassette tape of the River Bear Newfoundlands’ dogs barking will be used on our neighbor’s porch to scare bear!

Cool, now we just have to wait for homeland security dogs to bark at the bikers, cyclists, and those people who are training for cross country skiing. As far as the dogs can tell those people make weird noises and carry weapons.

BEWARE
OF
BORED DOGS!

Here’s Rose. She’s bored.



What do bored dogs do?
They find things to do.





Here’s a small selection of things the dogs got this week.
Zoë was really looking forward to the cranberries.
Turns out the dogs like cranberries.
Rose opened the package and then carried it through the house with all the other Newfoundlands following her as she dropped cranberries.
Not sure if she even ended up with any.

The tissues . .
We are used to them digging out the trash cans and carrying them as prizes through out the house.
Grace has taken it to a new level.
She grabs the box and empties it.
We were noticing more mutilated boxes around then she went up to take a nap with Dan.
He woke up to her very carefully taking a tissue out one at time from the box.
Wow, that was cool, because as soon as she took one out, another one appeared.

So Bored Dogs, what do you do with them?



Hmm, not sure what Zoë is doing here.



Hmm. She’s stringing a bunch of stuff together with treats in it.

She then threw it out in the play yard.



The dogs swarmed.

Guess who came out with the toy?



Rosie, of course!
That’s Rose on the right, pulling Katie along.



The other dogs are still swarming,
they haven’t figured out where the treats have gone.



Here they are, they’ve discovered where the toy is.



We think that’s Mac.
Someone kept pulling the other parts of toy, so Mac put his foot down so he could clean out the shoe.

Whew, playing is hard work!



That’s Gracie on the left and her mom, Patsy, sleeping on Melanie’s bed.

That’s all this week,
Take care.

May 22, 2009

Some stories for the week!

Melanie and dogs were having a nice quiet evening, when two jets zoomed overhead very low to the ground. The dogs were concerned. They went out and barked . . at nothing, because by that time the jets were gone. But they were on watch, nothing was going to get by them.

Mattie was outside and started another alarm! They would not stop barking. Melanie went out and found them barking at an island across the river. She looked but didn’t see anything, brought them all in and shut the dog door.

They barked through the night.

Talking to the neighbors the next day, we found out we have a bear in the neighborhood. He went into the neighbor’s garage, and took out the garbage for her. She has dogs too, Bearded Collies. She kept them inside.

Not only do our dogs protect us from bears . . .





Here’s Ros on the left and Grace on the right
protecting us from a biker.

This morning Katie wanted to play with Franklin and made herself quite a pest. Franklin didn’t want to play, she was pretty insistent. Finally, she left Franklin alone. Then on the morning walk/run, Franklin took after Katie and rolled her into a big mudpuddle. He was very pleased with himself. So was Katie, he finally had paid attention to her.



Here’s a sleek Katie.
Isn’t her coat beautiful?
So is her face, but while Melanie was taking the picture a bug showed up.

Here’s Grace.
She’s been groomed.
You can’t tell because she is a digger and puddle girl.



More on brown tinged hair in a minute.

Melanie has a friend that has a Canaan Dog. He was complaining about Bear (his dog) blowing his coat. Melanie rubbed her hand down Bear’s back and came up with a little bit of fur. She laughed.

Lots of our dogs are blowing their coats. None more than Patsy.



This is Patsy, see the brown fur?
That’s her undercoat that is coming out.
Zoë has been working on it for 3 days.
She has taken out 3 trash cans full of fur.
She had looked like a yak. She’s looking better now.



Still working on it, but she’s looking better.

Here’s Bess looking regal.



Melanie took a walk this morning just down the block. One of the neighbors has redone some of the lawn and had watered it. There were over fifty butterflies there feasting on something in the soil, or the water. As she went to look, she was in the midst of a butterfly whirlwind. Wonderful.

When we have butterflies in the stockade, they are usually land on the poop. Weird.

We were having work done in the main part of the house today. Zoë was in the west wing with most of the dogs. They seem to think they need roughage.



That’s amazing.

One more sweet story from River Bear Sullivan (Mac, Patsy pup, Katie’s litter mate, MA)

ANOTHER SULLIVAN STORY
 
I love Sullivan when he is tired.  So on Sunday, I took him for a long hike.  We had a great time. He swam and was soaked.   He was off leash, so he runs up and back and gets double the exercise that I do.  He was tired.  While he was sleeping on the kitchen floor, I ran outside to get something at the barn.  Gone about 5 minutes.  I came back to a candied Newfoundland.  He got into a sealed canister of 5 lbs of sugar and coated himself, my counter, floor, mixer, toaster and expresso maker.  When I opened the door he was there to greet me.  He was so cute, dripping with wet, sticky sugar.  I said to him “what did YOU do!”  He walked into the kitchen and I kid you not, looked at me, and then looked at the mess with his tail wagging the entire time.  He was so proud of what he had done.  How do you teach a dog to have remorse?

Dogs . . Remorse? Hmmm, doesn’t seem to fit.

That’s all this week,
Take care.

May 15, 2009

Sometimes Melanie opens the camera and there’s a picture and she has no idea what the story is behind it.



She is calling this. .
Dogs loose in the garage.
This happens frequently, especially when the dogs come back from their Morning Walk/Run.
Notice the garbage can with the bungee cord on it.
That’s where we keep the dog food (we go through a lot for some reason). The dogs have not figured out how to take the bungee cord off. Yet.

This has been a week of finding things on the floor.
Melanie first thought this was poop and someone had an accident in the house.
Then she realized that a sphere is unusual shape for poop and that she had found a fossilized rubber ball.



One year in the outside.
Looks like a meteor.

Then there is left over Ellie.
Ellie loves to chew bones.



But when she’s done, it looks like she has hoof and mouth disease.

Hmm.



What on earth?
The pack has killed a stuffed lion.
Maybe we should rename them to
Newfoundland Ridgebacks.

Things not found on the floor, or any where else for that matter.

Zoë took out a package of hamburger to cook up for the dogs.
TREAT TIME! Unfortunately, she can’t find it. Anywhere. We figure we’ll be smelling it sometime soon. On the other hand, Sullivan’s (Mac and Patsy Pup, extra wonderful therapy dog) owner had this to say. .

As far as the hamburg goes, give it up. With all the
dogs you have in the house, I am sure one of them already ate it.
Hopefully they shared and you will not ever find out what happened to
it. That was a lesson Sullivan taught me. If something is missing, it
has been eaten. Doesn't matter if it is edible or not.


That’s all this week.
Take care.

May 8, 2009
How very strange. A week where the dogs were relatively well behaved. Maybe we should see if someone has switched dogs with us. We do have some pictures of our dogs acting normally or so.

Zoë has a train of dogs waiting their turn on the grooming table.



We have found a groomer right down the street. (Whew!)
Zoë can keep up with the grooming once they’ve had their after winter cut.





Here’s Mac helping with the laundry.
Actually, Zoë has treats in her jean’s pocket.


Sharing a door.
Franklin on left and his mom Patsy on right.
So cute.
Of course, it makes trying to go through the door for humans a bit difficult.



Then there are the three youngest.
They like to play 3 way tug-of-war.
That’s Grace on the left, Katie at the center back and Rose helping in the middle.



Rose loves being the one who chooses who wins.
Since she’s in the middle, she can do either side.



We have our dogs so well trained that when they eat on the sofa they use plastic.
That’s our Rose.
Not really sure what she’s planning on doing.

That’s all this week.
Take care.

May 1, 2009

Happy May Day! We tied ribbons to the dogs tails and trained them to do a complicated May Pole dance and it was wonderful. The May Pole was beautiful. The dogs did a great job, except when the FedEx truck came by, but that’s another story. Picture at the end of the log.

We had a taste of summer this week. Here’s what our dogs are good at during the summer.



Yup, they are getting in practice.

We’ve been sending the dogs to a groomer down the street. We’re going to be keeping fur short, tummies trimmed and feathers at a minimum. When the dogs go out for their walk/run they bring the most tangled mess back.



Here’s Rosalind after her beauty day!
Tried to get a picture of just her in it, but the rest of the dogs have to help. That’s Mac in the foreground. Franklin in back. Someone under Ros’s head and Bess to the left.

STORY TIME! Dan was awakened the other night by Katie bringing him a stuffed toy and then a loving lick. She was just checking to make sure he was okay. Now why would she be doing that?

Because the night before, Dan had tried to step over Franklin who got up at the same time and tipped Dan over. His hip is OKAY! But Zoë has told him at night he must use the cane. Later that same night, Zoë tripped over a dog and hit her nose. McKey told her, she would now look like the toughest Grandmother on the block. She is doing fine. What was Melanie doing? She slept through the night.

ROAD TRIP! All the dogs like to go on road trips. As far as they are concerned, we could drive them down the twenty feet to the mailbox and back and they are happy for the day. Melanie decided to go out with her pal Patsy for the morning.

Here’s Patsy getting ready for the trip.



She may not look happy, but she really is.
Really. She loves getting treats. She gets treats every time we stop.

Here she is after the stopping at the post office.



Hmm. She looks just the same. Maybe they need to go to somewhere beautiful like the Glendale Falls.



Beautiful. Peaceful. And yes, that’s a huge drop or cliff if you want to call it that.
Melanie had Patsy on the leash.
Patsy thought it was cool.
When they got back in the woods, Melanie let her off the leash, thinking they could have a nice walk.



Yeah, like that worked. Patsy walked right back in the car and sang, “Feed me, Seymour!”

Well, maybe she really didn’t sing it, but Melanie did.

We were just kidding about the May Pole Dance.
Can you image ten Newfs prancing around a May Pole with ribbons tied to their tails?
They would take out the entire neighborhood.

After a hard day of May Day work.



We love these dogs.

Have a couple of pictures for News from the Litters for next week. Any more? Just send them in.

That’s all this week.
Take care.

April 24, 2009

It might have been 33 degrees this morning, but we’re headed to the 70’s today!

What on earth is in the bottom of the closet?



Maybe we should get closer . . .



Oh, it’s our lovely Grace. She has taken over the floor of the closet. She’s even sleeping there at night.

We had a great Earth day here at River Bear. Which means, of course, there’s a story involved.

The dogs were outside in the play yard with Melanie. She played with them and then when she started reading, they got bored and went up to the stockade area. Melanie decided, that with no dogs, she would go down to the river and look at the new sand bar at the Newfie pool.

The river changes the Newfie pool every spring. It’s how much water, sand, rocks come down the river during breakup. This year it was mostly sand.

She was fascinated. The island had been partial eaten away with a new cut through to the river, then she noticed fox or coyote prints on the new sandbar. Sooooo, she went over to look.

And sank both feet into the VERY wet, newly deposited sand bar, up to her knees. She had on leather slip on shoes. Great footwear to wade in.

By the time she struggled out of the sand and then back to solid ground, she was exhausted, wet and very sandy. The track of the fox or coyote was obliterated. And Rose had found her and started barking.

“Hey, hey, hey, guys, she’s down at the Newfie pool. Let’s go, let’s go, it’s our time! We get to go to the river!”

Five more dogs arrive at the gate. Melanie climbs up the bank, looks at the dogs, looks to the right. Going that way would mean climbing a rock wall. Looks to the left. Going that way would mean climbing through the trees that fell during the ice storm. Hmmm.

So she got a large rock and threw it over the fence. The dogs ran over to explore and she opened the gate to get through. Unfortunately, over the winter she’s forgotten which way the gate opens and she opens it the wrong way. Which means she can’t get through, but the dogs can and they WANT to. She slams the gate shut.

Not really feeling the pack leader, she summoned her “voice” and said, “My Gate, back up.”

They did and she got through. Totally awesome. The Dog Whisperer Rules.

So Earth Day was very sandy and wet.



The Newfie Pool with new sand bar.

Here’s what happens when Zoë and Dan leave.



The Wait.
Hmmm. There’s only eight dogs there.
Well, Patsy likes to stay at the top of the staircase to the play yard so you can’t see her.

Here’s Ellie.



Waiting is hard work.

Katie Bar The Door!



We wondered where that saying came from . . .
The internet says it comes from a 1890’s poem. It means to make ready for trouble.

For our Katie it means she’s tired but wants to keep tabs on who goes where.

Dan and Zoë were able to do the morning walk/run today!
Dan is now able to drive and walk without a cane!
Zoë still does the walking with the dogs.
Dan does the driving and door opening.



Memory of the walk/run wrapped up in a sleepy tail!

That’s all this week.
Take care.

April 17, 2009

Good morning! The Easter Beagle came to visit on Sunday!

Grace and Katy waiting patiently (sort of).



The dogs found Easter Eggs in their food baskets!



Yup, that’s were the goodies are mixed; the bathtub two feet off the floor in the dog room.



Aren’t the eggs pretty?
Don’t worry, they were shelled first before being dyed.

Melanie had the idea of taking pictures of each dog eating their eggs.
HA!
They were too fast.



Here’s the closest she got. That’s Ellie about to get her egg.



She did get a picture of Gracie in the tub.
She loves swooping up bits of dog kibble.

Intermission from photos.

The Human part of the River Bear Newfoundland Pack have discovered an author and book they must recommend to dog lovers.

Dog On It by Spencer Quinn

A mystery told from the point of view of Chet the dog. He’s partners with Bernie, a private eye. It is wonderful. Melanie found it first and laughed through the whole book. Zoë was jealous and kept trying to steal it from her. Zoë laughed through the whole thing. Dan took it with him during his hospital stay and it kept his spirits up while that new hip was put in.

Chet the dog even has his own web site. It’s something Melanie reads everyday. Check it out! Chet The Dog.

(Lights are flashing, intermission over!)

Melanie followed Zoë and crew out for Poop patrol.



We’ve discovered that a pitchfork works well.
What are those black shapes over by the gate?



Oh, our black sheep are back. We’ve had two days of sun and the dogs are grazing the new grass.



Nothing like a squeaky toy to get everyone’s interest.



That’s Bess getting a back scritching from Zoë.

That’s all this week.
Take care.

Welcome Back to the
LOG!

April 10, 2009
It’s been a long long time, but we’re back. We hope you enjoyed Dan’s book, Sightings. Did you know on the break he was writing? Zoë and I haven’t read it yet, but we are impressed.

Yup, Dan now is the bionic man. Both hips are now metal. His PT person is impressed with how well he is doing. Dan wants to hurry up and be able to help Zoë walk the dogs.

Speaking of dogs . . . we now have TEN! No, we didn’t have a surprise puppy, one of our owners couldn’t take of her two and a half old Mac and Patsy pup, and so returned her to us. She is wonderful.

River Bear Katharine or Katie! She is a sweetheart, hungry (likes to counter surf) and she’s not as big as our others. She is bigger than Mattie, but everyone is bigger than Mattie.



River Bear Katie
(She’s got that sideways tongue thing going on.)

Katy was intact when we got her back. Her heart checks out, her elbows passed and her hips are good. Guess who’ll we’ll try to make a mom later this year?

This is good, because Ros had trouble with her hormones and we had to spay her. She’s fine now.



Our Puppy!
(Huh?)
Yes, this is an untrimmed River Bear Amazing Grace who is now 13 and 1/2 months old.

She really is amazing. She likes to help with food time and so waits until everyone is finished and then jumps into the bathtub (2 feet off the floor) to finish anything she can find within reach. Then she barks (she’s got a LOW bark, almost as low as Franklin’s) to announce she’s ready to come out of the bathtub. We have to go into the dog room and tell her to come out. This was sort of cute until Zoë went into the kitchen and found her with all four feet in the kitchen sink. This was a tight fit, but she was making it work. It’s amazing what Amazing Grace could get into from there. By the way, she’s bigger at one year than Katy is at 2 1/2.

So as you can see, our household remains the same. A bit frantic, a bit crazy but always loving.


The usual sight when you look at your feet.
Bess on the left (the white around her eyes are really long eyelashes, (well they are really her eyebrows, but it sounds better as her eyelashes), Grace on the right.



Zoë always has dogs around her. That's Ros in the upper left and Franklin getting petted.



Melanie’s attempt of getting a beautiful portrait of Bess.
Hmm

Rose in front and Mac in the back.
They’re on hay. It’s mud season here.
The hay helps some.


Rosie posing. She needs a hair cut.



We’re still working on the damage from the winter.
We can now get to it. Almost all the snow has melted.
Hope the Easter Beagle visits all Newfoundlands!

That’s all this week.
Take care.