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.

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 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.

That’s all this week,
Stay warm.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Lovely Close Up!



They sure sleep a lot!

Take care.

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



And trying to move around can be difficult.

Take care,
More later 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.

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.

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.

That’s all this week,
Take care.

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.

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.

That’s all this week.
Take care.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.