Some 'V' Pups at One Year: My, How They've Grown!

Happy 3rd Birthday, 'M' Pups!

Maddy Mahler Mamet Maxie Mikomi Mira Mocha Morse Mulan and Murrow

Congratulations on turning 3 years old today!

Your mom is very proud of you all!

Happy First Birthday, 'V' Pups!

Pearl's 'V' pups are one year old!
Congratulations

Valor Vargas Vartan Venezia Vermeer Verona Viana Vico and Victor!

Danea and her sisters

Pearl is still recovering from her breeder retirement 'operation' and is not yet up to writing her blog; however, she wanted us (her humans) to express her pride in her newly matriculated 'D' pups and share more great photos.

As of the end of August, Danea and her sister Damita began attending school at the CCI Academy in Southern California.

[Above, the girls are dressed up for the matriculation ceremony.]


Before beginning her Advanced Training, Danea (with help from her human 'mom' Marianne) sent Pearl a lovely e-mail with news about her summer and all her accomplishments.
[At left, Danea composes her e-mail. Pearl thinks that Danea look rather like her.]

Pearl loved hearing all about Danea's summer adventures. Although Danea had to do stuff to get ready for college such as go to the doctor for shots, she also got to have plenty of summer fun with swimming lessons and a trip to a baseball game!




At the end of the summer, Danea flew out to California from Arizona in order to start college.



She was accompanied on the flight by her younger half-sister Venezia (another of Pearl's pups). Both girls got seats on the plane and we are sure they were very well-behaved. [At right, Venzy has a snooze during the flight.]


Finally, before saying their goodbyes, Danea and Venzy hung out on the beach in California. As beautiful blondes, they certainly fit right in.

Pictures of Adian at home

Hello all. Pearl here. I always love to hear how my kids are getting on, so I was thrilled to get pictures of Adian from her new family.

She got to spend her first week away hanging out with her big sister Dorit which they obviously both enjoyed. (I must admit I'm a bit jealous as I miss getting to play with my pups myself). Adian's family sent us a lovely photo of my girls playing (above).

Although Dorit has now left for CCI 'college', Adian looks to be making herself quite at home even without her sister.



I was particularly glad to see that she's got a nice lawn to play on and that she is putting to good use all my advice on how to enjoy it. I also hear that she's a very smart girl and that she's learning all sorts of new things. I'll bet she has hardly any time to miss her old mom !

Pearl's 'D' pups are off to college!

[A note from Pearl's humans]

Just as Pearl's youngest pups (the 'A's) are happily settling in with their new families, her 'D' pups are setting off for college!

At present, the 'D's are all either busy preparing for school or already taking their first classes at Canine Companion's Advanced Training. It seems like just yesterday that the 'D's were eleven tiny little balls of fur!
On Saturday, Pearl was thrilled to get to watch three of her 'D' kids walk across the stage at the Canine Companions matriculation and graduation ceremony. A CCI graduation is always a moving experience, but Pearl was particularly misty eyed. She was thrilled to see what fine dogs her pups grew up to be and appreciative of the wonderful job their Puppy Raisers did with raising them. [Above is a picture that Dorit's Puppy Raisers took of Dorit, Delia and Durrell dressed up for the big day!]

Since each CCI region (North West, South West, North Central, South East and North East) has its own Advanced Training center, the pups start school at different times. In addition to Delia, Dorit and Durrell who matriculated this past Saturday, Devika, Devline, Dharma, and Donali enrolled in May, and Damita, Danea, Daltry, and Dryden will start this month. [At right is a picture that Devline's Puppy Raiser sent us of Devline and Dharma on their first day of college in May.]

The 'D's will now spend several months living in the CCI dorms while learning new skills (and lots of new words). There will be, of course, 'career counseling' as not all of them will graduate as service dogs, but Pearl is proud of her pups whatever they do!

Pearl's empty nest

Well, my friends, all my pups are now with their new families. My boy Atticus went to his new home last week, and Adian left us yesterday. My humans and I already miss them so much!

(At right, Adian and I enjoy a sprawl in the grass and a bit of a chew during our final quality time together).

When Adian's new family came to pick her up, they were able to visit with us for a while. They were very nice and I know that Adian will be happy living with them. I was particularly pleased because they also raised my daughter Dorit, and thus Adian will get to spend time with her half-sister before Dorit goes off to Canine Companions 'doggie college' next week.

In her last week with us, I tried to prepare Adian for the new adventures that await her. Of course, we also goofed off and had some wild times (there was, um, what my humans are calling the 'feather incident'), but she's a very smart girl and already knows how to 'sit' like a professional. I'd say she's chip off the old block!

The past week was not all fun though. I had an itchy spot which became a nasty hurty spot, so my humans made me wear a funny thing around my neck. They also gave me something to make me feel a bit better, but really, the collar is terribly humilitating.




Adian wondered at first what the silly thing was on my head. She even started to tease me a bit.




Little did she know that no silly collar can stop . . .THE TICKLE MONSTER (ha, ha, ha!).




Sigh, how I will miss playing with my pups! They really do keep one feeling young.

Adventures with the dynamic duo

[From Pearl's humans]

Pearl has been enjoying her extra time with Adian and Atticus (AKA 'the dynamic duo'). This week, Pearl has gotten to show them exciting new things like the art of romping in the grass, and important 'grown-up dog stuff' such as how to wear a 'gentle-leader' on walks.


The pups didn't need too much instruction from their mom on how to have a fun walk in the grass. They got right to sniffing and rolling. They didn't seem to mind at all their new 'gentle leader' snout accessory (a must for all CCI puppies).

Below, Atticus (left) and Adian (right) lounge expertly on the lawn.


















In general, the pups sleep hard and play hard. Although they've now had a brief taste of splendor in the grass, they are still perfectly happy to play in their kitchen area x-pen, especially when their mom gets to join them. At night, however, each pup sleeps in his or her own crate. They vocally announce their need for a middle of the night 'outing', but otherwise are good sleepers.

It should be noted, though, that not only do they have their own sleeping crates because that is what 'grown-up dogs' do, but also because they quickly learned how to escape from the x-pen! The mystery of how the pups would suddenly appear outside of their pen was solved when they were caught climbing over. Below, Adian is caught in the act showing off her 'spider-dog' skills while Atticus tries to look innocent.

Pearl is obviously tremendously proud of her adventurous pups!  Stay tuned for news of Pearl's 'D' pups as they get ready for 'college'.

They're on their way!

Greetings all! I must admit I'm feeling lots of motherly pride after having watched my youngest group of pups excitedly leave home to join their new families.

A few days ago, my humans and I brought my pups to the Canine Companions puppy park where they got to play and then do some grown-up dog stuff like getting their first shots and their ear tattoos.

I was told that the next day Alaric, Amita and Avila all left to meet their puppy raisers. They were a bit nervous and it was hard to say goodbye, but I know that by now they have already made wonderful new friends and are starting to settle into their new homes. Adian and Atticus came back home with us because their puppy raisers weren't able to pick them up yet. (It will be nice to have a little more time with them.)

Although I am to retire from having puppies, I'll always be a mom, and as with all of my pups, am eager to hear all about all the 'A' pups adventures (which I will share with you, dear friends).

My kisses to all my pups!

Hanging out in the puppy pen

[A note from Pearl's humans.]

This past week was the last chance for Pearl and the pups to spend time together as a family before the pups had to head off to CCI and their new lives with their 'puppy raisers'.

Usually, when Pearl's pups have stopped nursing and switched to all solid food, Pearl hasn't be able to spend any significant amount of time in the puppy pen in case they try to nurse. However, since Pearl clearly loves to hang out with the pups and do fun 'pup' stuff like play on the slide, the solution was for us to dress her for playtime!

Although she looks quite fetching in a t-shirt, the pups found it a bit puzzling ('where did all mom's fur go?').









The pups also enjoyed just relaxing with each other. They used naptime to do puppy performance-art by making various sleeping configurations on the floor.

My, how they've grown!

At 7 1/2 weeks, the pups have gotten quite big!

Alaric was 1.2 lbs at birth, and now, at 7.5 weeks, is a full 18 lbs.

[Above, Alaric shows he's always a very 'cool cat', er . . . dog.]


Atticus grew from a little over 1 lb. (16.7 oz.) to 15 lbs.

[Above, Atticus displays his serious face.]

Amita went from about 0.8 lb. (13 oz.) to 12.5 lbs.
[At right, Amita is ready for her close-up.]

Adian increased in weight from little over 1 lb. (16.3 oz.) to 13 lbs.

[Above, Adian is queen of the slide.]

Avila went from little under 1 lb. (15.7 oz.) to 12.5 lbs.
[At right, Avila shows her contemplative side.]

Cool tips from Pearl for the 'dog days of summer'

Hello friends. We've sure had some hot days here in California this summer! I've never had my pups during the summer before, so this time my humans had to come up with new ways to keep them cool.

Since my pups also found their own ways to beat the heat, I thought I would share some doggie tips for keeping cool during the summer.

First of all, when they are feeling a bit warm, the pups sometimes take a dip in their water bowl. Alaric has even tried to soak and nap at the same time.

My humans keep telling the pups that water bowls are only for drinking, and then they give the pups ice bottles instead. The pups don't complain though, because the ice bottles are great. Not only do they keep us dogs cool, but they make great head and leg rests.

When they were younger, the pups would all share a bottle. Nowadays, however, at most one or two of them will comfortably fit on a bottle (unless they get really creative).




The only problem with ice bottles is that they aren't much fun to lick (though when the pups were younger, they did try). So, when it is a particularly hot day, my humans give the pups ice cubes and even blocks of ice with fun stuff in it.






Of course, Alaric likes not only to lick the ice, but to nap in it as well, and since he's a good boy, he usually lets his little sister have corner.







This weekend, my humans also brought out a little pool. I told my pups that humans have these giant bowls of water called 'pools' that you can swim in.



They didn't know what 'swimming' was, but they thought it sounded fun. I told them that they were much too young to swim, but that they could get in the little pool and splash around a bit.





They had a great time. Some of them even discovered a secret that every dog eventually learns - that water from the hose tastes the best!

Keep cool my friends! Pearl