Jaiaen's Brenna - Tribute to Rio

Mom, Garrett, and I went to the Northwest English Shepherd gathering with absolutely no intention of getting another dog. I had found out August 7 that my female, Quincy's hips were scored too low to breed again, so I was sort of on the look out for another female, but in the back of my mind I didn't think I would get one until Spring. In the breeder line up, one of the breeders introduced herself and her dogs, then she said "If any of you are interested, I know someone who has pups right now and they will be ready to go at the beginning of October." I was interested, so I talked to her about them, and then we took a detour to go look at pups. Now I had no intention on getting a black and white pup, as I like the other colors that English Shepherds have to offer, and I didn't want to have to answer the "is this a Border Collie?" question a million time. The ideal color that I wanted was clear Sable and White, imagine my excitement when we got there and there was a Clear Sable and White female, among mostly black and white pups (there were two tri, but black and white far out numbered the lot). I was so sure that this little girl was the one God wanted for me that I said ok I will take the pup, if she fits the temperament that I want. I talked with Jaiaen (the breeder of the litter) for quite some time about the pedigree, by then it was dark and we had a long way to go still. Jaiaen very generously offered us a cabin in the back of her property for us to spend the night in. The biggest problem with that was we had 3 dogs with us that are not inside dogs, but we gave it a shot, and they did really well...until about 5:30am. When I went outside to let them go to the bathroom I saw that Jaiaen was up and taking care of the puppies, so I went over to help. That's when I first started to notice this little black and white pup who wandered up to me and sat in my lap for a good half hour and cuddled. 

Anyway when the pups were 6 weeks old I heard from Jaiaen and she said that the best pup all around for breeding was the little black and white girl that cuddled with me. I almost said "well never mind then." But I felt bad because I kind-of jumped in with both feet, so come the first week of October we headed out to go get her. And I am so glad I did. She is exactly what I wanted all the way around for a female.

I had the name Fiona (meaning Fair haired and heart) all picked out for my next female, but it didn't exactly fit so all the way home we were trying to find another name for her. We came up with Brenna, meaning beautiful with hair black as a Raven, it fit a little better.

 Shortly after I got her, I went to help out at a local ranchers elk camp and took her along. She was exposed to a million new experiences and did really good as a whole. She is shy by nature so being exposed to 30+ men, elk, and just having one on one time  was really good for her.

 She was a little scared of the bigger dogs when we first brought her home, but she and Garrett's pup Xavier really hit it off and helped her get over it all. She still doesn't like Quincy and Conrad that much, but now its just pecking order.

I am so pleased with this girl, and am looking forward to watching her grow!

Joby (aka Trigger)

The runt of the litter, born with the name of Trigger. He was named by my little brother, Gabriel, for no apparent reason except he liked the name. We weren't sure if this little man was going to make it for the first two weeks. He didn't start gaining any weight until he was almost 2 weeks old, even though we kept pulling his dam aside she he could nurse without having to fight for it. He was a fighter though and He now has a fantastic home with a 5 year old boy who dotes on him and a 85 lb Golden Retriever who is doing a fantastic job training him! Joby is a very sweet tempered, happy little puppy. If you look up puppy in the dictionary, I'm sure you would find his picture there. We get to see him very often, he lives in a near by town. We got to see him about a week ago at an outdoor concert, he was the center of attention! 

Born on a cold February night, he was always taking every bit of sunshine he could manage.

Even though he wasn't great on growing in size, he sure advanced well on everything else. He was the first to open his eyes, the first to walk on all fours by himself, and the first to beg for attention. 

His first week picture, he is still at his birth weight, 14 oz.

His second week picture, he was much more active, his eyes are open all the way, as you can tell by this picture he is starting to push himself up on all fours, and best of all he had gained 2 oz in the last week. That may not be a great amount, but every little bit helps, right?

And he didn't stop growing from then on, he was still behind, but he gained weight good.

Here was a picture I took of him last time was saw him, happy and jolly as you please!