9/20/06: Meet the Labor of Love Puppies!
Aris is a four-week-old female puppy, the largest female of the group. She is a light brown puppy and has four little white socks on her feet a little hint of white by her nose and white on her chest. She came from Iowa at 1 and 1/2 weeks old. Her mother went missing, and the owners couldn't care for all of the puppies. Aris' mother was chocolate Lab and her father was Golden Retriever.
The puppies have just finished eating. They are learning to eat out of a glass pie plate. They are quite the mess when they are finished eating, and I see that Aris is trying to lick a couple of her siblings clean. They are so much fun at this age--learning all of these new things, spending more time awake but yet still sleeping quite a bit, which gives me time to clean up after them. They are growling, barking, and wrestling with each other--sometimes biting too hard and getting a yelp out of one of their siblings. Now that they are full, they are getting in a pile together for a little nap!
| Breed not specified | Born: January 2007 |
| Female | Weight not specified |
Status: Adopted
9/20/06: Meet the Labor of Love Puppies!
Aris is a four-week-old female puppy, the largest female of the group. She is a light brown puppy and has four little white socks on her feet a little hint of white by her nose and white on her chest. She came from Iowa at 1 and 1/2 weeks old. Her mother went missing, and the owners couldn't care for all of the puppies. Aris' mother was chocolate Lab and her father was Golden Retriever.
The puppies have just finished eating. They are learning to eat out of a glass pie plate. They are quite the mess when they are finished eating, and I see that Aris is trying to lick a couple of her siblings clean. They are so much fun at this age--learning all of these new things, spending more time awake but yet still sleeping quite a bit, which gives me time to clean up after them. They are growling, barking, and wrestling with each other--sometimes biting too hard and getting a yelp out of one of their siblings. Now that they are full, they are getting in a pile together for a little nap!
Bear (Aris) says Happy Halloween! Ribbit! She and Batman had a fun-filled night of trick-or-treating with the kids! (Don't worry, we didn't actually make Bear wear her costume any longer than it took to take these pictures... she told me she'd already been "rescued" and this wasn't part of the deal.)
Yay! Our happy, confident little pup is back! Not that she ever left us, but the Bear (sorry, it's the latest derivative of Air-Bear) just seemed a little "off" for the first day without her brother around. Today she is happy as a clam and she and Mason are playing nonstop! For those of you who are avid RAGOM 'available dogs' page readers, you might remember Zoe 06-280, a little Lab mix pup I fostered this summer. Her all-time favorite thing to do was to pile all her toys into Mason's 'donut' bed and then keep Mason out. Well, the game is back! Aris has "claimed" the donut bed and fills it with toys every morning and then rolls around in it happily playing with each one, while Mason pouts nearby.
One more funny story... I left Aris to play in the kitchen this morning with a Kong stuffed with peanut butter and a few Charlie Bear treats (which are little bite size treats). Later, she took a little nap. When she woke up I was playing with her, and opened her mouth for some reason, and there was a Charlie Bear stuck to the roof of her mouth with peanut butter!!! It had obviously been there for hours, so I asked her if she was saving it for later, then unstuck it for her and she happily chewed it up. Ok, maybe you had to be there, but I couldn't stop laughing!
A few more fun facts about my Air-Bear... she's sleeping through the night every night, up to 8 hours on the nights that I actually get that much sleep. Potty-training is going great, no accidents for a couple of days. But she's still a little Bear so there will be more accidents. I just think I've been especially diligent with her now that I only have one little one to keep my eye on. Aris is growing like a weed, she was almost 12 lbs at the vet on Monday, and seems bigger every day. That's pretty decent-sized for an 8 week pup, so I don't think she's going to be tiny. Aris' fuzzy fur is so very soft and cuddly that you just can't keep your hands off her. I can't wait to see what she looks like when she's all grown up, so it will be a requirement of her forever family to send me pictures once in a while! :)
Darling Aris, Air-Bear, Bear, Baby Bear will be at the RAGOM Education Booth, Halloween Costume Party, Sunday, October 29th, from 1-4 pm at the Dog & Pony Show store, 105 New England Place, Suite 120, Stillwater, MN, call for directions 651-430-1149. We will have to be very cautious about handling these pups at the event and will not let them come into contact with other dogs since they have not had all of their vaccinations yet. Don't be surprised if we ask you to use a little Purell before you pet them. But please do come and meet this fuzzy little bear and 2 of her littermates on Sunday!
Aris and her brother Bogart 06-401 really enjoyed the sunny, warmer day on Wednesday. They had lots of good playtime in the yard and found a fallen branch that caused a major tug of war, which was hysterical to watch since the branch was too big for either of them to really move. Finally they agreed to share it, and just sat and gnawed on it for quite a while.
This is the last Aris update that will include Bogie because he moved to another foster home last night. It was time to split these two up, since they were very bonded with each other, and we want them to adjust to being apart before they are adopted. Aris had a rough first night without her brother and cried more than I've ever heard her cry before. Of course, this broke my heart, so I let her sleep in bed with me. Turns out she's a really squirmy little sleeper and she kept waking me up as she moved closer and closer to the edge of the bed. I was so afraid she would roll off, but I finally made a barricade of pillows and that did the trick. She's doing a lot better today, although still seems a bit more clingy to me than usual.
Aris is really developing some personality! She's such a confident and outgoing puppy and doesn't want to miss a thing. She loves playing with her brother Bogart 06-401, but she is also really starting to bond with me, and has become my little "Air-Bear". When Bogie gets too rambunctious, as pups will do, she will run to me for safety and try to jump into my arms. It's too cute! Of course, he then cocks his head and looks up at us like "What did I do wrong? I was playing just like she taught me." And he's right!
Aris seems to be the better listener of the two -- not that she doesn't enjoy getting into a little mischief once in a while -- but when I call them to come inside, she is right there at my feet, whereas Bogie seems to beat more to his own drum. I'm now calling him "the happy wanderer".
Both of these guys are off to a good start with potty training and are sleeping like champs at night. I literally don't hear a peep out of the crate for at least 6-7 hours after they settle in, and they are right next to my bed. They also spend quite a bit of quiet playtime/naptime baby-gated in the kitchen with blankets and toys on the floor, and have only had a couple of accidents in there. Not bad for their first week of training. I've also noticed they aren't quite as mouthy with humans as some pups are at this age. Maybe it's because they still have each other, so they are learning to reserve that behavior for dog play. Wishful thinking? Yeah, maybe.
One correction from my previous assessment... every day these two look less and less like Golden Retriever pups. Although their coloring is definitely Golden, their fur is very unique, and almost looks like it has highlights. Their faces are also getting scruffier -- but they really are SO adorable -- their pictures don't do them justice. They both have gorgeous green eyes, which, it turns out, can sometimes look a little sinister with flash photography. I will keep trying to get some better pictures, but even better yet, come meet them for yourself! You won't be disappointed.
Aris & Bogart had their 8 week shots yesterday and are ready to meet their forever families! Let placement
ragom [dot] org know if you think one of them is the perfectly unique little pup you've just been waiting to add to your family.
Aris & Bogart 06-401
Oh my gosh, I'm in puppy heaven! Foster mom Jean brought all 9 pups down to the Cities this weekend to meet prospective families and do adoptions. Only 3 are left and we decided to keep them in the metro since the majority of adoptive families are here. I was lucky enough to get 2 of them, Bogart 06-401 and Aris 06-405. They are just the cutest little things...neither of them have the Labrador look that most of this litter had, but rather look a lot more like Goldens - they have the longer fur and light gold coloring, but they also have this scrappy little terrier thing going on around their noses that is just darling! And they ARE little scrappers together... it is so much fun to watch them play and wrestle and chase. Aris is the leader of the two, or so I thought anyway. Yesterday Bogie was following her all over and mostly chasing her, but today he seems to be evening out the playing field. He loves to chase her, catch her by the tail, and then she turns around and chases him. What a hoot! They are both great snugglers and compete for lap time.
And get this, they both slept for 7.5 hours straight last night in their crate! I was shocked. Granted, they were up late and played and pottied their hearts out until after 11pm, but still, I was amazed they could hold it that long overnight. When they are up and running around, it seems we are heading outside every 5 minutes for potty breaks. But they are doing great so far, and almost always go potty right away when you take them out.
These two won't be around for long, so don't hesitate if you want to meet Aris or Bogart, but be prepared to have your heart stolen! Email placementragom [dot] org to meet them.
Aris is the largest of the females. She also has that scruffy look around her nose, making me think that she might have some Terrier in her. She is a lttle scraper, likes to play rough with her siblings and she can get quite vocal when playing.
