Puppy Life (Updated)

Mary-Ann Sontag August 8, 2025

Sapphire and Star Garnet are enjoying their sibling time.

I like to train their little minds to think and learn, and it is fun to think up novel ways to do that. Today I set up a little course for them.

I used treats to lure them across a few times, and then I switched to no lure but reinforcement/treats at the midpoint and at the end. Both puppies did great.

Sapphire: “QUICK! Take a picture and send it to Jasper and Tommy Topaz!!!! I scored one for the Boy Team!!!!”

Actual Score: Boy Team 4.5, Star Garnet 2,739,068

How cute are these puppies?! 😍

Capella is back in action. We are working on regaining her fitness after all the weeks off (plus the c-section) — cavaletti poles are one of the activities. She loves it and is really good at it. The set-up looks like this — she trots through the poles and circles the cones at each end.

The Canine Conditioning Coach has a three-part series on the cavaletti exercise that I used to train Capella — HERE is part one of it, with links to the next two parts. Star Garnet will be learning this soon.

I hope you have a terrific day!

(Later)

The two here.

Playing with their mom.

Jasper with his Uncle Zuber (Capella’s littermate).

And check out Tommy Topaz!

WHEE!!!!!!

The Puppy Formerly Known as Jasper and Currently and Forever Known as ... (Updated)

Mary-Ann Sontag August 7, 2025

Alison sends us this happy update about Jasper and his new life:

“Jasper accepted his chaotic grab 'n' go trip to NH on July 31 and dove into NH life full steam ahead.

Jasper, by the way, is his forever name. Jasper is simply written all over his sweet face.

His favorite indoor toy is the sherpa bag he traveled in. The bag offers so many options by itself and in combination with other toys - truly entertaining.

We named his giant stuffed moose Star Garnet so he can still have rockin' and rollin' tussles.

Jasper is enjoying our overgrown lawn so much we are leaving sections for him to enjoy jungle fashion.

He discovered the agility tunnel after playing in a cardboard box tunnel inside.

After growing up in the dry desert air of Idaho he has been a bit taken aback by NH humidity but becoming intimate buddies with fans, day and night, has helped.

He plays hard and sleeps hard and already had a grand time on two field trips to meet new people and new places.

We are so grateful and thrilled this little guy came to live with us. Thank you, Mary-Ann.”

SO grateful that all is well with our sweet Jasper — thank you, Alison and Tom!

💙

(Later)

Jennifer sent this video of Tommy Topaz interviewing for a spot in the family landscaping business.

He’s a natural!

Back at Camp Kaibab, Sapphire and Star Garnet checked out the sprinkler system.

Yep — the sprinklers work, the puppies are happy to report.

A wet, cool Star Garnet hiding out from her wild mother, Capella, who got just a little crazy running amuck through the sprinklers.

💙💙💙🩷 All together in one blog post.

The Gems are Nine Weeks Old (Updated)

Mary-Ann Sontag August 6, 2025

Happy Nine Weeks to the Gems 🎂

We are back home after four nights at Kira and Jay’s house — yes, we did an extended sleepover with puppies 😬 This was set up months ago — Cindy and Vic will soon be celebrating FIFTY YEARS of married bliss and so their entire family planned an amazing trip together in the middle-of-nowhere Idaho. How fun is that?!

And so Capella (and the human kids) got to swim, and the puppies had a cool new experience. Capella and her littermate, Atlas, played in fast whirly-ness that made it hard to get any decent photos of them. Pozy was a little startled at the change of scenery but she adapted quickly and all was well.

And now we all unpack and resume normal life (whatever that is!).

When Jennifer picked up Tommy Topaz, she observed that I might have gotten Star Garnet’s button wrong.

It is not, she suggested, an on/off button — it is just an ON button. 😂

More photos later 💙🩷

(Later)

The camera card wasn’t quite clicked in and so none of my wonderful evening photos were captured — DRAT! But I do have these two iPhone photos — Capella is training Star Garnet to love this certain human 🩷