Diablo's first trip to Oregon

Jon and I spent last week visiting his parents in Oregon and we decided to take Diablo. My Mom stayed here at the house and took great care of Hazel, Meika and Mandi. Diablo had a great time! We took him hiking and mountain biking all around the Willamette forest. Here are some pics:

Diablo and Hercules are famous!

When I was teaching Diablo Aggie and Hercules to play frisbee (at 3 months old) I used a soft Filppy Flopper frisbee so that they could pick it up easily. I took a great photo of them and thought that I should send it in to the Filppy Flopper company because it was such a good photo. They asked if they could post it into a new section that they were creating called "Happy Customers". I said "sure"! I had no idea that they were creating a new section on the website when I sent the photo in.

This is the link to the "Happy Customers":

http://www.bmbpet.com/Default.aspx?ISC_PageName=Gallery

The photo of Diablo and Hercules is the second one from the left.

Those pups were so much fun! I could not believe how fast they learned to play frisbee. Actually, Aggie learned the fastest and seemed to enjoy playing more than any of the other dogs. Diablo has since decided that frisbee is not so much fun without the other boys to play with and has moved on to herding his Mom for fun.

Penny and Odie

I received an email from the person who adopted Odie and Penny. I was so excited to see the pictures of the pups. They have grown so much! I can see similarities between Penny and Hazel and Odie and Hercules. Odie has the same bone structure as Hercules but the same markings that Priscilla has. Penny has the same bone structure as Hazel does but her coat looks to be the same color as Hercules.

This is the update from Jackie:

The pups are doing great, loving life here. Everyone spoils them rotten! They both love water, Penny especially. Luckily between the creek and the irrigation ditch behind the property they have tons of opportunity to cool off, and we've discovered that the "shoot" mode on the hose makes a great stream of water to chase around the yard. :)

They've been helping my cat out by digging up all the gopher holes...A part of me wants to stop them from the digging, but the gopher hole at the end of each of /their/ holes makes me just let them do their thing. :)

It's getting time to get them fixed, Odie's been starting to try to mount her and I want to nip that one right in the bud.

They are fantastic dogs, Odie loves being petted by everyone after he's gotten his welcoming round of barking out of the way, Penny is much too excited by visitors to sit still long enough for pets though. :)

Diablo has been trying to mount Hazel and we have an apt. for Diablo and Hazel to be spayed and Neutered on the same day. It will take place on July 17th. Diablo looked a bit nervous when I explained his upcoming appointment to him.

Priscella

It’s been a long time since the last posting. We have been watching Diablo grow up and Hazel has been his best friend and mother the whole way. Yesterday we met up with Priscilla and her owner Donna for some fun play time. Priscilla seemed to remember us and it was a great reunion for all! Priscilla has grown so much! She is a bit smaller than Diablo 33 pounds as opposed to 40. Diablo is a big boned boy and Priscilla is a petite, dainty and very agile girl. She is great at climbing up and around the hills and a very fast runner too.

Dear Puppies: We Will Be With You

Dear Puppies,

I was warned about you when I was a kid, "No strays, they might be pregnant." But, I was older now and knew better -- this was advice from parents that never happens -- an old wives tale. But it does happen, you are the proof.

We were there when you dunked your nose trying to get your first drink of water, and when you took your first breath. I could see you when you couldn't see me. I watched over you, and Brigette slept near you. You went from a 3-roll-of-duct-tape cardboard box with 6 inch walls Brigette spent 4 hours on the floor making to 6 foot high pseudo-fencing some of you could still climb over. You terrorized the pugs by licking their face -- overwhelming them with your licks and kisses.

Nine little paws prints with Momma in the middle.

There were times you fought, or didn't make it outside, or charged through the baby gates and barricades, not for food or a cat, but instead simply to get some affection And, while not pleasant, we stayed calm, after all, it was our fault not your's.

We spent hours fighting craigslist flaggers, people who think they are the Internet Animal Control, and that we didn't need to use their site to find you homes. But, we would repost and repost and repost, asking for pity, asking for help, asking them to stop blocking our posts -- they meant well, but this all started with a starving dog, we didn't know it would add up to 9 more.


You puppies were in there...

Your mom was very sick and hungry when we found her -- so hungry I took pictures in case she died the day after we brought her home -- so we had proof of the starvation and so someone might be punished for the cruelty your momma endured. And yet, you all came out healthy.

Brigette made your mom cooked food and we fed her slowly at first. It took 5 days for her to wag her tail or even lift her head to my hand for a pet. After a month, she gained some weight, but it didn't look right -- little did we know that was you.

To prepare for you, we read books and asked for advice. We made a crash-kit in case there were any problems. When you came out, two of you hemorrhaged from your cords, but I pinched it off and tied it shut. Boy was it a mess, piles of down feathers everywhere, and no doctor in case things got complicated.


We tried so hard.

We wanted to make sure you were a good thing for this world and not just more trouble.

We gave you away for free, not because you weren't worth something, but instead because we knew you were priceless and couldn't be handed to whomever was willing to pay. Some of your new people offered a donation and we accepted, but it wasn't required.

Your new owners were very hard to find. But, they all seem like they would be good friends to us, so I'm sure they will be great friends for you too.

We tried because we knew what happened to you those first few months could really have lifelong impacts.

We tried because we now know raising dogs is passed down from parents to children. Plus, having dogs as kids was one of the best parts of life, so if we could make you better dogs it was all worth it.

Discussing the edibility of brown deer berries covered in morning dew.

I'm sure we made some mistakes, but I also know you will be the greatest version of man's best friend we could pull off. Maybe you would have turned out the same if we hadn't been there, or hadn't given you so much energy -- but we'll never know, that wasn't a risk I was willing to take.

Your new people did us a favor by offering up their homes to these unknown dogs, but I think they knew we also spent 4 months (more or less) feeding, playing, cleaning, and caring for you.

While we loved you while you were with us, only a home with a new family could provide the time and attention you deserve. We miss you much, but we also know you are a kind of hand crafted gift from us to strangers. Make us proud and do no harm to anyone.

If dogs are man's best friend, you will become some of the best friends known to man -- I'm sure of it.

Be careful of cars and don't eat any stinky fish you might find -- it will make you sick.

Picture taken from Mt. Rose

Here's a picture I took two years ago from the side of Mt. Rose. Aggie and Hercules live on this same road.

My friends were doing a mountain launch of their hang gliders from the side of Mt. Rose just below the ski resort. There was a forest fire about 40 miles away and the smoke coalesced into strange ripples around 11am. This is Wayne just after he launched.


Here's Ben D. taking off from the ski resort launch:

Operation Escape Suburbia Complete!

All the pups now have new homes. They are mostly in pairs (or neighbors at least).

We just dropped off Hercules and Aggie to their new people who live between Reno and Tahoe on the side of Mt. Rose.

Here's a complete map of where all the pups landed:

View Larger Map

We found a great set of new people for the pups. Dealing with all these dogs was very difficult -- but, once we were in this situation -- and for the sake of the pups -- we couldn't take the easy way out.

A day at the park

We took the pups to Robert Sibley Park and had a great time! The pups learned to play with the frisbee and met other dogs. More pictures can be found here: http://picasaweb.google.com/brigettelowe/DayAtSiblyWithThePack

TIME IS TICKING

Jon wants to find homes for the pups and Hazle in the next 7 days. If you know anyone who would like to adopt any of the pups please have them contact me at 925-330-8899 or brigettelowe@gmail.com

Custom dog collars

Raw Dog Leather is based in Eugene (my old stomping grounds) and makes amazing custom collars for dogs. We found them on Etsy but the complete site is here.

These are 100% hand-made in the USA dog collars and leads. They even posted a message about our pups to help find homes up north in Eugene area.

Another good custom place is Moxie and Oliver from Seattle.

We are working on a custom collar for Diablito since all the ones in the stores are overpriced and under-quality.

Disk Dogs Doing Tricks

This crazy disk dog looks a lot like Aggie (but I think Aggie will be taller when full grown). Look at that crazy Raccoon tail!

These boys need a home

We are still looking for someone to adopt both Aggie and Hercules. They have so much fun together and have bonded over the past 3 months.

I took some new pics of Agamemnon and Hercules today. They are looking quite handsome these days. They are growing out of the cute puppy stage so fast and are showing signs of what they will look like when they are mature.I have been asked how we named these two pups. We named some of the pups after Greek Gods.


Agamemnon

Agamemnon is pronounced: ag-a-MEM-nahn

Agamemnon is possibly derived from the Greek meaning "very resolute, very steadfast". In Greek mythology, Agamemnon is one of the most distinguished of the Greek heroes.

Hercules

Hercules is pronounced: HERK yoo lees

Hercules means grandiose gift;"glory of Hera" from the name of the goddess Hera combined with Greek kleos "glory". This was the name of a hero in Greek and Roman mythology, the son of Zeus and the mortal woman Alkmene.

We took the pups to Sibley park for a walk in the trees. They met a pack of 6 older dogs and had a nice time meeting them.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

The pups are 3 months old today.

Hazel is a great mom!

Hazel and George. George is the only dog who has the same markings as his mom.

Hazel after she had the pups.
She looks so tired. For two weeks she would only leave the whelping box to run into the front yard to relieve herself. She would be back in the box in under a minute. She would not even get out to eat. I had to keep her food and water bowl next to the box so she could lean over and eat.

We would let the pups roam around in the kitchen and block them in with a plastic storage container. She would check in on them often.

Here she is nursing the pups at 9 weeks old. She is still trying to nurse the pups and they are 3 months old! She will run out to her "spot" (an area in the back yard) and stand with her legs all spread wide, sort of bracing herself for the pups tugging and sucking. Now they just smell the milk fountains and run away. She looks around, waits a bit and then starts to play with them. She loves to play with her pups.
The pups had an accident the other day in the kitchen. I saw Hazel cleaning up the mess like she used to do when they were very young. I told her to stop and I cleaned up the rest of the mess. I tell her all the time what a great mom she is. I hope she understands what I am telling her.

Aggie and Hercules are available for adoption

Aggie and Hercules are looking for a home. They are great friends and I want them to live together. Aggie is very attentive to everything around him and Hercules is starting to show signs that he may be a great herding dog. They are both very sweet and will melt your heart.

George, Aggie, Lefty and Hercules getting ready for bed

George, Aggie and Hercules

Hercules checking out the park

Aggie and Lefty playing at the park