From Coco's mom

This was a recent message I received from one of our Pinewood puppy adopters...(totally unsolicited by me!)

"Why Pinewood Kennels is indeed the place to go for a puppy.

 

When looking to buy a Cavapoo we chose Pinewood Kennels May 2011, a decision we've been extremely glad we did.

 

From the get go, Jennifer was awesome to deal with. When we said we'd like to come see the Cavapoo we chose from pictures, she said, "sure, we'd be glad to have you visit." 

 

Our drive to Pinewood Kennels, took us across the State of Washington, and as we got closer we were as excited as two kids on Christmas. On our arrival, Jennifer warmly greeted us, showed us the puppies with their mother Buttercup and later Scout the father, as well as her other dogs. The love Jennifer and her family have for all their animals was apparent the moment we drove up their road.

 

It was important for us, not only to hold our puppy, but also to meet Jennifer & then see what is the perfect setting for breeding happy, healthy, and lovable dogs.

 

As promised, Jennifer kept us informed of Coco's progress. As scheduled, Coco flew from Spokane to SeaTac, accompanied by Jennifer's friend who met us at the airport. 

 

Here are pictures of Coco when we met her at 5 weeks, her drive home with us from SeaTac, one year on our riding mower, and at two years.

 

Forever grateful to Pinewood Kennels.   G, J and Coco too"

Coco at 5 weeks when they came to meet her.

Riding home from the airport.

A year old and ready to mow the lawn...just kidding, but she is smart ;)

Coco at two years of age.

I was thrilled of course to get "J's" email update. Here was our ensuing correspondence:

"J,
Thank you so much for this heartfelt letter of recommendation! You cleaned out my tear ducts this morning:) I'm thrilled that you so love your Coco girl and the experience you've had with us. I will definitely be sharing your note with others! Thank you, thank you!

Give Coco a birthday hug from her "other" mother:)
Warm regards~Jennifer"

 

 

"Jennifer you are certainly welcome.

 

G was hesitant in our getting a dog at our age (he will be 82 this July, and I will be 75 in June)  However, I knew he loved dogs and when he finally agreed there was no turning back.  Coco of course sealed the deal, the very moment we saw and then held her in our arms at your home.

 

The joy and love we've had from Coco, has been more than we could ever imagine. She keeps us young and active, makes us laugh, helps us relax (she loves sharing our chairs)

Alerts us to when someone comes down our driveway, gathers us up at the end of the day, or getting ready to go somewhere. ( a mother hen sometimes, cracks us up)

 

Have a great summer, enjoy your new poodles (they are adorable) We pray you continued success, as share your 'special dogs' with families everywhere.

 

J, G and Coco too!!"

 

 

And this is what it's all about! *smile*

 

What is "normal" anyways?

This is Abe.

I love this puppy. He is a beautiful sable color, playful, rambunctious, happy, super friendly and outgoing. He loves everybody!

But Abe is different. Abe was born with only one ear. He has cartilage on his left side, but no opening to the ear canal and no ear flap. His right side is perfectly "normal".

We don't know why this happened to Abe. Obviously something didn't develop right in the womb. He did have seven brothers and sisters crowded in there with him. 

Our vet has checked him out well and he's perfectly healthy and "normal" in every other way. I love the way our vet described him. When I said he had a disability. She said, "No, he has a different-ability." 

Abe doesn't know he's "different". Abe doesn't know he's suppose to have two ears. Abe doesn't know he's not like everybody else. Abe doesn't know he's not,  "normal". I guess we humans are the ones with the hang-ups. We see something different and we step back, we're afraid, we're cautious, we don't know how to react or what to do or say. Maybe we can all learn something from Abe. Love everybody whether they fall in our category of "normal" or not! Give everyone (including animals) a chance! Have fun! Enjoy life! What is "normal' anyways?!

"Can I read the paper?" (Actually he'd rather shred it!)

"Travis, turn me back over!"

Sitting at attention. He's staring at my son.

"Here mom, I'll hold the strap while you take the picture! I'm such a good helper."

Cuteness!

His left side without the ear.

"Haha, I got the kids toy!"

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father.." (James 1:17)

 Abe is a gift!

You gotta have Faith!

Just a little Faith. That's all you need. And that's what we got yesterday. I guess my post has a double meaning. We added a new doggie family member yesterday. I really like her registered name, "Lonestar's Lady of Faith". Her call name of course, is just "Faith".

I was kind of in the position that some of you have been in or are in. You find a dog that you'd like to add to your family, but it's clear across the country and you don't know anything about the person trying to place the dog or the dog. So you ask questions and spend time conversing with the person about the dog, etc. You start to feel comfortable and think this is a good thing, then plans start coming together. But it's still a leap of faith. Especially when you are adding an adult that's never had a litter before and you're hoping they'll become one of your future moms.

So let me introduce you to our Faith. She's a beautiful black & tan, AKC Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. She is sweet and friendly, on the smaller side, about 11" tall at the shoulder and about 19 1/2 lbs! Yep, she's what we call a bit "short' for her weight. *wink* She's almost two years old, is heart clear and patellas normal, with a good bite too. (All things we look at for an animal that will be part of our "mom team".)

We are very excited to welcome Faith to the Pinewood Family!

Camera shy!

"Mom, do you have to keep pointing that thing right in my face?"

Playtime outside!

I set up an outdoor play yard right outside the dining room doors. It's convenient for me if I'm working in the house to keep an eye on them and watch them play without them seeing me. If they see or hear me, they stop playing and come to me clambering for attention.

Today I was able to sneak outside by the trees and take some video of them playing. Then I was able to get halfway close to the pen and lay on the ground to snap some photos. That didn't last long though. The big dogs thought me laying on the ground was an invitation to come get in my face for attention. Of course when I told the big dogs to "Get!" (out of my way), the puppies heard me and ran to the fence line whining and barking.

Here's a few shots I did get. I love the last couple. You can see some the puppies howling and barking. "Mom, let me out of here, I want to come get in your face too!"

Bath time!

Mom (my human one), just gave me and all my siblings and "cousins" our first bath. It sure wasn't like the bath my dog mom gives me. She never gets me that wet!

Oh, I forgot to say, my name is Juliet. I get to write this because I'm one of the "older" siblings. I'll tell you what happened to me, but I think everybody got the same thing done. (Actually, my mom is typing it because I don't know how. Plus she said since I was wet I couldn't touch her computer.) "Mom, you're the one that got me wet!"

We were all comfortable in our puppy pens with our dog moms when our human mom picked me up and took me to the laundry room by myself. Then she shoved a piece of cotton in each of my ears. That felt weird! But she said it was to keep water out of my ears. (That didn't sound good....) Next she put me in this big, deep plastic box. I was so far down I couldn't see over the top. It was kind of scary, but my mom was right there with me, so I didn't cry. (My cousin Martha did though, 'cause she's a baby still.) Then all of a sudden water (which I usually drink from my bowl) came pouring out of the sky above me! Mom rubbed me all over to make sure my hair was all wet. It was yucky. Then she took something called a sponge out of a bucket that had more water with bubbles in it and rubbed that all over my body. Then it started to rain again and mom rinsed all the bubbles off me. After that she squeezed me all over to get the water off. ("Mom, if you want the water off, why did you get me wet  in the first place?!") Finally, she put me on top of a table-thing and rubbed me all over with a big towel. And took the things out of my ears so I could hear her talk to me and tell me what a cute puppy I was.

Mom had our puppy room all warm with the wood stove, so when I was done I finally got to go back with my dog mom and everybody else. Whew! I hope she doesn't do that to me again!

This is my sister Gracie. She doesn't look really happy about her bath either.

My cousin Rosie doesn't look really excited either.

Um, mom! There's a hole in the towel. George doesn't look very happy about it.

But look at George's pretty curls! I don't get pretty curls because I'm a Cavalier, not a Cavapoo like George.

Thomas got pretty curls too!

Ah..doesn't Thomas look cute wrapped up like a baby?

Can someone please talk to my mom and tell her I don't need those bath things anymore?

Sister, rivals, friends!

These two are something else! Raising two litter mates and both females is not highly recommended. Since mama Zoey was retiring, I was hoping to get at least one daughter to keep and take her place here. Zoey surprised me with three beautiful girls! I decided to keep these two and place the littlest one in a wonderful pet home.

So double trouble is what I've kept for myself! I've never had two puppies that make so much noise wrestling, growling and fighting with each other! Granted they do have their down times, but they are very active and vocal! (I can hear them behind me scraping in their Iris pen as I write this.) I haven't figured out if they both want to be "boss" or if one is always top dog picking on the other. I have a feeling it's the first one. ;)

You'd never know it by this picture though. Look at the little "angels".

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..........

Ahhhh.....sleeping puppies; they are so cute! I love taking pictures of them while they're sleeping; especially at this age. They look so peaceful, so content. But boy, do they sleep in some weird positions too.