Ready, Set... BIRTHDAYS

A year ago today, Claire looked like this…

…because inside of her were all of these little miracles…

Every litter is spectacularly and uniquely wonderful. Every puppy is cherished. This litter, however, has extra special meaning for me.

It was the third attempt to breed Claire — the previous two had been sadly unsuccessful. Her mother, Sparkle, had produced one litter and then also had a series of unsuccessful breedings. I felt like I was losing Zoey — Sparkle’s mom — all over again because there would be no descendants from that very beloved and incredible girl.

But the third time was the charm. Thanks to Claire and Team Ferguson, my wish came true and the Bright Stars arrived for their time on earth…

Today is their first birthday and we will celebrate all week.

Let’s start the party with Sage (fka Mirak), who is enjoying the sunny winter in Arizona…

Kay shares, “Our little Sage (Mirak) has done a lot of growing during his first year. It’s been interesting discovering the likes, dislikes and general character which are unique to him.

He definitely likes to eat (especially cheese) and stay close to his favorite people and brother Lucas. It became apparent fairly early on that he had ambitions to become the dominant dog in the house and that seems to be fine with Lucas. Sage is one of the most intelligent dogs I’ve had the pleasure to train and was a star in his first obedience class.

He’s also very curious about his world and particularly likes to sniff everything. His reaction to new people can sometimes be welcoming but he can be hesitant to approach with others.

Sage always happily jumps into the car to go places and does not like to be left at home. I’m happy to say he is probably one of the least destructive puppies we’ve had and is easy to live with. We look forward to see what the future brings with Sage but I’m sure it will be a blast.”

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAGE! And thank you, Kay and Sue, for his wonderful life and for your treasured friendship over many, many years (and litters).

Various Family Fun

Eden sent some photos of Wildflower Kadi (Major x Daisy) living her best life…

Do you think she has enough toys?!

When I saw the photos, I was so struck by how much Kadi and Claire look alike. This is not surprising as they have the same dad but I had not really seen it before. Beautiful girl — thank you, Eden.

I share this video for two reasons. First, I want to support my daughter-in-law and second, it includes Daisy!

I miss Daisy so much but it makes my heart feel better to see how happy Daisy and Bethany are to be together again.

And this is our preview of the next week — the litter announcement for the Bright Stars…

I did not announce the litter theme until they were born but can you now see the hints?

I hope you are having an amazing week!

Getting Ready

We are about to begin two weeks of Birthdays on the Blog! To start things off, we have this fun video from Team Xeena…

Kim shares:

“I cannot even believe it has already been a year since the countdown to Claire’s puppies being born! Xeena has been such a delightful addition to our family. She is still as busy as the day we brought her home but has a good settle button now and will go relax when I ask her too. She is funny and smart and loves to run and be active. She loves agility and nosework! Xeena is gentle, sensitive and has an incredible memory. She is also quite tenacious when she wants something (lol). Xeena is still not super people social, and I expect she never will be, but that’s fine with me. It’s nice that she is not a puppy anymore and people don’t try to pet her all the time, so Xeena can happily ignore them now. She does love dogs though and is very good at matching her play to the dog she is with. She is very gentle with small or young dogs but will run and play hard with more energetic dogs.

Xeena is maturing into such fun dog who loves to learn and work. She is just perfect :) “

I will tell you what is perfect — this match between Xeena and Kim. What a FANTASTIC home for this rock star puppy.

Thank you, Kim, for everything.