The Happenings of Harley and Holly: September 2010

Wow, I am so behind it's incredible! So here we go -- my attempt to catch up...

Two weeks ago (September 6) we had our first puppy party. We had five of the seven puppies there. Bella of Temecula wasn't able to attend, but owner Beth is going to try to come to our puppy party in late October. Sasha (formerly Orange Girl) of Livermore wasn't able to come either, as owner Danny had to work. Danny informs me that if I give him more advanced notice, he will be able to come next time. I hope to have another puppy party on Sunday, October 2, since Dexter will be here!!!

Many thanks to Jim and to Jason for all of the pictures I show here. Jim emailed me these pictures, and I lifted Jason's pictures out of his facebook album. Thanks so much, guys!

Harley and Holly were of course at the puppy party. Here they are, looking bored as the puppies dash about but they are leashed up. Still they are quite gorgeous dogs! Holly did really, really well with both Kimber and Gidget, given that she hasn't seen them this week.

Our Harley and Holly. Aren't they beautiful?

Harley, on the other hand, was too aggressive with the puppies. He hurt Kimber, but thankfully didn't leave a mark. So -- we ended up crating him for the duration. Here is Harley, looking miserable in his crate, with Thomas keeping him company (this is a classic!). Thank you, T, for being such a good guy!

Thomas keeps Harley company while Harley is in time out.

This motivated me to make an appointment to get Harley neutered. I took him in on Friday and had the deed done. My poor baby Harley -- he is in such pain that it hurts me. I don't remember it being like this with Max, my German Shepherd-Doberman mix. He can't run, jump or play for 14 days. And -- misery of miseries -- he has to wear the dreaded cone so that he can't tear at his stitches. I will be so very glad when he is through this period. And -- hopefully he will be less aggressive with other dogs as his hormones exit his system.

Meanwhile, Holly was a champ. She had her shock collar on, just to make certain she couldn't get nasty with anybody. She let Jamie pet her (sorry Jason, next time!), and she was really great with the Babati family and with Jim. Here is my beautiful Holly girl:

Holly is enjoying the puppy party!

Now that we have discussed the parents, it is on to the puppies -- naturally in birth order! First up is Gidget. This last week, Gidget started puppy school at PetSmart in Dublin. Guess who else is in her class? Lars and Pinkie! Gidget is weighing in at over 23 lbs these days. I was so excited because she recognized me, both at the puppy party and at puppy school. Those 2 1/2 hours of bonding that Holly, Gidget and I had before anymore puppies were born are paying off!

Here is our Gidget at the puppy party. Guess who won this round of puppy wrestling!

Gidget and Pinkie go at it. In the background: Kimber attacks a toy.

Gidget and Kimber also went at it. I got this picture off of Jason's facebook page. His title of this picture was "Gidget and Kimber compare dental plans". German shepherd puppies think they are terribly ferocious, and in actuality they are terribly precious.

From Jason Marty's Facebook album: "Gidget and Kimber compare dental plans".

Here's a really cute thing that happened -- all of the puppies discovered that there was ice
in the soda bucket. In this picture, Gidget helps herself to some ice!

Gidget helps herself to some ice.

Of course, no puppy party would be complete without puppy kisses. Here, I get some Gidget kisses to tide me over until I see her the next time!

Gidget gives me some kisses from my sister Heather's lap.

I am so very happy that my sister, her husband Steve and their two boys love Gidget so much. It is so wonderful to have this puppy stay in the family. I am also very blessed that all of our puppies have good homes. Check out how much Heather loves Gidget!!!

Heather with Gidget.

I think Gidget is going to turn out to be a great dog. All of the Babatis are working with her. I understand she is doing some yard damage (good-bye camellias), but I am certain they will get that under control very soon!

Next up is our teeny tiny baby Lars. This dog is so terribly gorgeous!

Our teeny tiny baby Lars. At the age of 3 months, Lars weighed in at 38 lbs.

I took Pinkie and Lars to PetSmart yesterday afternoon, just to walk around, see other dogs, and have people pet them. (Trust me, they got alot of attention.) Jim and I took Pinkie and Lars over to the scale, and weighed them in. Lars weighed in at just over 38 lbs!!!! (Pinkie, the big girl that she is, weighed in at 30 lbs.) Lars is an amazing dog. He has learned all of our routine tricks: sit, give me your paw, lay down, high five. (Just Friday, at puppy school, Steve was teaching him to roll over.) Here is a picture of Lars doing a perfect high five. Look at the perfectly vertical back!

Lars does a perfect high five. Other puppies in the picture (from left to right): Kimber, Pinkie, Dexter. That is me in the picture as well, with my inhibited right cast arm.

Lars also does a great job shaking paws. Here he is, showing his stuff:

Lars gives me his paw, while Gidget is more interested in something in the lawn...

Shortly thereafter, Lars gets overheated, and he goes to get some ice to cool off. How funny these puppies are!

Lars will be going to live with Jake after Jake gets settled in San Luis Obispo. I will miss Lars tremendously. This is a great dog!

Next up, in birth order is our Pinkie. Pink Girl has always been the most beautiful puppy of the litter, but her attitude needed some work. She is now a great little girl -- and both Curtis and I are very attached to her. Here is our Pinkie:

Our beautiful Pinkie.

Now, Pinkie isn't just another beautiful face -- she is quite the energizer bunny (well, actually Gidget is the energizer bunny, but Pinkie is a close second). Pinkie regularly falls in the pool. Today, while I was sweeping the pool -- sure enough, in she went! During the puppy party, Lucas and Thomas just had to go swimming. Both Pinkie and Gidget joined them in that endeavor. Here, Pinkie hangs out with Thomas poolside.

Pinkie and Thomas poolside.

Everywhere I take Pinkie, people ooh and ah over her. I have had many calls from people the last few weeks, expressing interest in taking her, but there has been no follow through. We are expecting a phone call from Rachel at PetSmart tomorrow. Let's see if she does call -- and let's see if Curtis and I can let go of this beautiful girl. I have thought all along that this was the puppy for my mother. I still hold a secret hope that my father will relent and let her take one -- and that we will have Pinkie all trained and ready to go to her!

Yesterday at PetSmart, I saw a german shepherd female that I think Pinkie will grow up to look like. And she was a beautiful dog! If Pinkie doesn't join the Waverly Drive household in Los Angeles, she may just have to stay part of the Hansen Drive household in Dublin.

Next up is our awesome Dexter. Look at how beautiful he is. He truly is a Harley Jr. Can you see how his eyes are turning golden like his Daddy's eyes?

Dexter, aka Green Boy. He is truly a Harley Jr.!

Dexter has also shown an affinity for the pool. Curtis says that he snagged Dexter one afternoon before he floated off into the middle of the pool, and Dexter has been a pool afficianado ever since! Here are Dexter and Gidget playing poolside. Do you see Dexter's paws in the water?

Dexter and Gidget poolside.

As time wore on, the puppies wore out. Here is Steve holding Dexter. Andrew was lifeguarding out at Del Valle, and wasn't able to be with us for the puppy party. But he will be here for the one on October 2!

Steve with Dexter.

The day after this puppy party, Andrew and Tanya drove back to school in San Diego ... with Dexter. It was really hard to see him go. Dexter is doing very well, and has acclimated to apartment life. He started puppy school and PetSmart in El Cajon last Friday, and, according to Andrew, was the star of the class. He is definitely a Harley Jr. ... I am really looking forward to seeing both Andrew and Dexter in two weeks!

Okay -- who is up next? Our Yellow Girl, aka Kimber. Now, if any of you are friends with Jason or Jamie on facebook, you will see the fantastic pictures they have of Kimber. Yes, I hate to say it -- this is another extremely well-loved puppy. (Yes!) Jason takes very good care of her. Our Kimber of Tracy is quite the girl. When I saw her at the puppy party, I couldn't get over how much her face looked like Harley. Now, you might recall that Kimber was Holly's favorite puppy. And yes -- Holly let Kimber near her! Kimber was beside herself when she saw her Mommy. And she definitely remembered the house. It brought tears to my eyes, both that she has such a good home now, and also that she remembers me. Here is our Kimber with Jason:

Jason and Kimber at the puppy party.

And here she is with Jamie:

Jamie and Kimber at the puppy party.

Now, just because you see Kimber hanging out in Jason's and Jamie's laps, don't get the idea that she stayed there the whole time. She was very busy at puppy play. Here you see her with the gang:

The puppies at play: Gigdet, Pinkie, Kimber, Dexter and Lars.

And -- guess what ! Yes, I got puppy kisses from Kimber too!

Jamie holds Kimber while I get puppy kisses.

Okay -- next up in birth order is Orange Girl, or Sasha. Sasha wasn't able to join us, but Danny sent me this picture of Sasha last week. As of about ten days ago, Sasha weighed in at 22 lbs. Way to go, Sasha! Check out those ears! Shades of Holly -- she had to grow into her ears too. In fact, her ears are still to large for her head...

Sasha at 11 weeks of age. Check out the ears!

I am going to bug Danny, in hopes that he and Sasha will join us at the next puppy party.

Last, but definitely not least, is our beautiful Bella of Temecula. Bella is doing fabulously well in her new home. She has Daisy and Zoe to play with, and gets lots of love from Beth and Mike. Beth has her going to puppy school, and says that Bella doesn't really want to play with the other puppies, she just wants to hang out with Beth. I hope we hear from Beth soon that Bella is feeling more comfortable at puppy school, and is playing and socializing with all of the puppies.

Bella also went in for her second set of shots this week, on Wednesday, the day she turned 13 weeks old. Bella weighed in at 26 lbs! You go, girl! Here is a picture of Bella playing with Daisy, shortly after she joined the Anderson household in Temecula: