One year later...

Believe it or not it has been a year since Swing came home to live with "the boys" and I.  Whew, time sure has flown.  We've done a number of things over the last year, attended a puppy agility workshop, Fit to be Tricked workshop, a couple of obedience seminars (as both an auditor and a participant), traveled to Orlando to debut in breed at the cluster before the Eukanuba show, showed in a few matches, went to agility trials (to keep Dodge company), made numerous visits to Amy and Michael, and the list goes on.  We continue to take lessons from our friend Nancy in Harrisburg and this fall she will see the breed ring a few more times before getting back in to tracking.

One reoccurring theme here seems to be this - Swing is one well traveled gal!  Born in New Orleans, the litter made its first trip at the tender age of 5 weeks when they were driven up to Knoxville TN by their co-breeders where Amy and I met them before bringing them back to southern PA.  They spent a few weeks at Amy's, growing and being stimulated by toys, visitors, other dogs, etc. and finally at about 9 weeks the majority of them headed to their new homes.  I believe Gracie Dot traveled the farthest to her final destination in St. Louis MO.  I was fortunate because I got to see all of them every weekend and it was so much fun watching them grow and develop.  Gracie Dot always brought a smile to our faces with her spunky attitude and just plain "cuteness".  Beau, who was the bruiser at first, to this day loves to play keep-away with sticks and toys.  Ella, the sweet one, came out of her shell after moving to Rochester to join Dodge's brother Stanford (I told Ann she and I are cousins since we own littermates from two litters) and Milo sprung up and is now much taller than Beau.  Speaking of Milo, I know he has logged a number of miles too making a few trips to FL and back in his first year.  Travel is definitely something these guys are comfortable with!

 Ella @ 6 weeks

Swing @ 6 weeks

Swing @ 13 months

Gracie Dot @ 7 weeks (didn't I tell you she was cute!)

For those of you that have never seen our puppies grandfather, here is Mia's daddy Mason who is co-owned by Mary Ann and Laura, co-breeders of our litter!

Mason

Swing and I have had a great year and for me personally, owning a little girl after 20+ years has not been as bad as I thought.  I make no bones of the fact that I love my boys and perhaps she will be my one in a million (hopefully that will not be the case but...).  The ride has just begun and my plans for her are lofty.  She's starting to show in conformation (we've been trying to let her grow out as she's been somewhat slow to develop) and as I mentioned above, I'd like to pick up tracking again in hopes of following in Dodge's footsteps and making that her first performance title.  The effort I put in to her foundation work seems to be paying off in obedience training and once she's steady on stationary skills we'll start to work on some more agility skills.  Lots of time to accomplish that discipline as I like to get my guys in the obedience ring before heading down THAT path <wink>!

So what about the rest of our siblings, send me your reflections on the last year and your goals and hopes for the future of your puppy.  Swing and I hope to see sister Ella and brother Milo soon (shows and matches, right guys?) and of course the dastardly duo will be up to their own shenanigans, especially if I have anything to do with it (I'm always coming up with something for them to do together be it a seminar or workshop or just a get together with our friend Helen and her fluffy samoyeds Ravi and Spice).  Until next time...