Memory Lane

So I received one of these the other day. My first ever birthday invitation for one of our dogs!

Maggie's owner also sent me some growing progress pictures with her favorite stuffed dog.

What a beauty!

And what a good girl!  She hasn't shredded the dog!
I love getting these updated pictures of these guys!

It was almost 1 year ago that this was what was in our house.  They grow fast.

Autumn

Fall is here!  It is beautiful in the Ozarks.
This is a picture of Finley watching ducks leave the water.  You can see them flying if you look close enough.

I can't complain about the weather either!  It has been beautiful, and dry, and sunny, and dry.

This is about half the clan out on our walk.
Watching them run free makes me smile.

Although it would be nice if they'd wait
for me sometimes.

This is Leo and Candy.
Who's Leo, you ask?

This is him!  He is actually one of our former pups from 2012.
You may remember him from this post, this post, or this one.  Actually, you may just want to look at all June and July of 2012 posts.
Anyway, Leo is visiting temporarily and may possibly be used to sire some of the upcoming puppies (he is NO relation to Annie, Candy, or Lucy).

Leo gets a little skittish at all the freedom out here.  He stays by my side.  But the others run off to jump in the ponds and find rabbits.

Here he is gracefully getting into the pond.

I apologize for not updating all summer and half of the fall.  With no puppies, there wasn't much to say. You all know what we do by now, we chase our boys around and let the dogs run!

I had to have another surgery (other than my
foot surgery in April) in September.  It was
a reoccurring issue that was going to need to be
dealt with at some point so this year seemed
like a good time.
Didn't stop me from holding the babies though
(by the way, one of those babies is not mine)!

But now, I am healed!  At least healed enough to
not be in a sling or walking boot anymore!  But I'm
still not going to race or arm wrestle anyone yet.

And...hopefully very soon, I can bring you all good
news about some puppies on the way!  We are having
withdrawals here!

River Ride

I can't lie.  The dogs have not gotten their swimming adventures in this spring near as much as they would like.  With it being turkey season for a few weeks, rain, cold, and me with only one working foot, we haven't taken them out much yet.  So this weekend was dry for a little while so we did just that.

We loaded them up.
Sounds easy enough right?  

Wrong!
We have too many dogs.  There was no room for the boys.
Seriously, what kind of parents are we?
Luckily, they're kids and thought it was great.

After awhile though, they all got tired of bouncing around so it was just easier to run.

Poor Huck didn't even get a ride.  He ran the whole way.

Speaking of Huck, I took a couple pictures of him standing tall and proud.

Whether or not he felt tall and proud, I do not know.  But what he seemed to be was annoyed by the birds that kept flying by his head.

They were all happy to be back at the river with some sunshine.

We just sat and watched.  Afterall, it is what I do best.

Doesn't seem to matter how cold it is, dogs and small boys will always get in the water.
Those cows up there are fine as long as they stay up on the bank...

But not when they start heading for the water!
Yikes!

They ran the whole way home and totally loved running off that energy.

Until that energy ran out. . .  then they tried to hijack us.
They were ready to lay around again for the rest of the evening once we got home.

*Just a little update...this is our puppy, Finley who is now 5 months old, next to her mama.  They are almost the same size, in fact I think Finley's legs are already longer.

Here is a little update on a more specific due date on our Upcoming Litters

A Cattle Post

There comes a time every couple of weeks when my dad shows up and asks for our help with the cows.

"Us?? Really?"

"Huh?"

Okay, he's never actually came out and asked for the dogs' help.  But, ya know . . . they are available.

It was time to move the cattle.

So that's what we set out to do.
That's Sam motioning me to go instead of taking pictures.

So we open the gates, honk the horn, and just let the majority of them follow the truck and each other.  For most of them, it is not a difficult process and they're generally happy to be set out into a pasture with more grass.

And leave the old, eaten down pasture behind.

We do have to outrun the occasional overprotective mamas who don't want anyone or anything around their babies.

And there's always at least one calf who gets left behind.

They aren't always the most cooperative when they're out on their own without a mama to follow.  You can chase them as much as you want, but they'll never go in the right direction.  In this case, this one needed a little doctoring up.

So it required some cowboy action.

There is the "brains" and the "brawn" to this operation.  I just won't describe who goes with what description.
But for the record (before you go making assumptions), my husband really IS intelligent too. . .

Still not sure into what category my boys fit.
Again, don't just make assumptions based on this one picture.

So once all was well with the calf, we continued moving them.
We moved them, 

and moved them,

and moved them.
And in about ten days we'll move them again.
Again, I apologize this is not about the dogs.  It is about farm life.
This summer though. . . look out!  I think there will be puppy pictures galore again!!

A Day at the Pond

Well, for those of you who have known me or kept up with me for the last about 6 months as I was trying to avoid a surgery on my Achilles tendon, I eventually succumbed to the surgery.

And there are two boys and an oversized puppy who couldn't be happier that my lap is always in a chair or on the couch waiting to be climbed into. (I am quite certain that sentence is grammatically incorrect)

The bad thing is, the weather has been perfect!  So I've tried to make the most of my sitting around.  I kicked back in my knee scooter and propped my foot up on my make-shift desk.

However, this hasn't stopped me from taking pictures over the last several weeks.  I can't say they've all been of dogs though.  It's just that spring is in full bloom here and absolutely beautiful!

I chose these particular pictures first.
Sometimes, we like to switch things up a little and go to a pond around here instead of the river.

The dogs aren't picky about where they swim.

The boys don't care where they get muddy either.

Sometimes, I say things to them and then wonder why I even bother wasting my breath.
For example, as I sat (what I do best) watching them, I said, "I don't care if you throw rocks and explore, but don't get close to the water because it never fails you end up in up to your knees and I have to deal with your muddy clothes and shoes."
As if saying I had to mess with their stuff would make them feel bad and want to stay away from the water...

Look at him...not 5 minutes later...practically waist deep in the water.

This is our little "Finley Pup."  She's growing accustomed to our ways around here.

It looks like a two-headed dog swimming!

I hope you are enjoying the spring sunshine! It is such a welcome change from the wind, the cold, and the rain (although, a little rain would actually be okay right now too).

* Keep watching.  We hope to be updating on a more accurate date we can be expecting our next litter.