Hi All– This is very exciting! We adopted Mars – kept the name because we couldn’t agree on one, and anyway, “Men are from mars”. The funny thing is that my husband has a pair of Marvin the Martian slippers and Mars won’t leave them alone no matter where we “hide” them he finds them. He is huge, at 13 weeks he weighed 30 lbs. and today is his next vet visit, my guess is he’ll weigh in at about 40 lbs, he has grown a lot since then. I am amazed at how obedient he is, didn’t expect that from his Mal side, but he did come to us with some basic training, one night right after we got him my husband said it’s time for bed, we both went off to get ready and then we couldn’t find Mars anywhere. After looking everywhere else in the house we finally found him in his crate, we figured whoever trained him called it a “bed”. He seems to be a very smart boy! He’s house trained and knows sit, come, outside and leash. He is very cuddly and lovable and the only thing we are seriously working on now is biting, if he doesn’t get his way he tends to grab our hand with his mouth, not really a “bite” just a gesture of control, got any good ideas on how to stop this behavior?

We adopted Mercury and he is now Buster.  He is doing very well and we love him lots.  He still has moments with the potty training (and believe me, it only takes a moment).  And there’s the small issue of his landscaping and bringing bushes, root ball and all, into the house via the doggie door.  But I ended up with a new steam cleaner and we’re working on it.

Buster and his brother, Darwin (Saturn) spent yesterday together.  They spend time together just about every week.  But yesterday they went to the vet. Buster weighs in at about 33 lbs. while Darwin is up to 40.  He’s huge.  They played the entire day together and Buster was exhausted last night.  He was still kind of slow this morning.

Buster and his brother, Darwin (Saturn) spent yesterday together. They spend time together just about every week. But yesterday they went to the vet. Buster weighs in at about 33 lbs. while Darwin is up to 40. He’s huge. They played the entire day together and Buster was exhausted last night. He was still kind of slow this morning.

We adopted Venus (now Bella) and we love her. I wanted to find out how her litter mates are doing and what size they are at currently. They are now 16 weeks old and Bella is 30pds. We wanted to see if she was normal for the litter and how her size compares to a full bred malamute of this age. I am attaching a picture from a recent ski trip. Bella loved the snow and was great at the hut. Any information will be great and we are loving our little girl.

We have had Boots for 10 days now and I think he is beginning to calm down and feel at home. Sometimes he runs back and forth along the llama fence trying to get them to run with him. We have a very good guard llama, and he runs back and forth on the other side trying to stomp on Boots. Boots thinks this is great fun. He still has not made any attempt to go over the fence, so I am really glad about that. He is very sweet and very much like our Bear Dog. My husband and I both slip and call him Bear sometimes. The saddest thing about Boots so far is that yesterday we bought him a rope to play keep away and tug of war, and he had no idea what to do with it. Within minutes he got the idea, but I couldn’t believe the neglect he has had. I’ll see if I can send a picture of him.

Just wanted to let you know Willard is happy as a clam here.  I think he figures he died and went to heaven.  He is the sweetest old guy and smart too.  He is so funny…wants to be petted all the time and paws me to get petted and if I ignore him he starts pawing my foot…smart!  Definitely not a picky pooch….feet, hands, whatever, just pet me!!

I’m just amazed his owner did not keep him with her as he is a great house dog, minds, sleeps a lot, wants to be petted, loves whatever you give him to munch, etc.  He would have been a great companion and comfort for her after her husband’s death.  On the flip side…he certainly enriches my life as well as Ellen’s.

I just thought I’d let you know we have all survived our 1st 24 hours.  Last night was like having a new baby.  Boots woke me up at least 3 times to check on me??  Around 2 am the heat come on for the 1st time and I could hear him going from room to room checking all of the heat vents.  Then in the morning here was a stuffed bear face down in the middle of the bedroom where he had been sleeping.  The last I knew, that bear was in my office.  That was kinda cute.

He is leery of the llamas and they feel the same about him, so I wouldn’t trust them together without someone being present.  He’ll just have to stay in the dog run for a few hours each day when we’re gone.   So far he has been running free with the front gate shut and has not made any attempt to get in with the llamas.  He’s more concerned about where Dave & I are at all times.  He seems a bit insecure, and with good reason I would think. He is pooping cowpies today, which is either the cat food or nerves, so I got him Science Diet for Adults (dry), and was wondering what you feed your dogs.

So that’s the update.  I’ll keep you informed.

Sorry it’s been so long since I gave you an update but we’ve been busy here getting an abandoned dog into rescue. Cola is doing great. She no longer snaps at us at all and only gives us warning looks once in a while. Her obedience classes are going really well also and we are going to put her and Dawson in Agility at the end of Mar. We have started using a gentle leaded when we walk her and she no longer pulls. She’s not crazy about the leader collar but she has only used it one day. It’s kinda like a puppy with and a first time collar- they fight it but as soon as something is more interesting they don’t remember they are wearing it. How’s Scout and his new friend. I bet he was happy to have a new buddy. Hopefully they get along as well as he did with Cola. They were pretty good together. Here are some pics of her-enjoy!

She is doing very well, loves her hikes! She has made the house hers, and has added some extra warmth to my bed where she loves to lay out and sleep. She is a funny dog and talks at me when I stop to rest while we hike and she is ready for more, its very funny the look she gives me lol. The kids adore her and they play a lot outside. Currently we are working on crate training her some because she likes to use the front room at weird times to go to the bathroom. All shots are now current, and as far as I can tell all is well.

So far things are going well.  He really acts like he has been here forever…just made himself right at home.
He is a funny guy and will go outside with me, but within a few minutes runs back in the house thru the dog door, lays on the quilts on the living room floor and waits for me to come back in.  It will take him a bit to realize there is no chain here.

He also smells to high heaven.  I have brushed him some and tomorrow will make a beauty parlor appointment ASAP.  My friend came over last evening and walked into the house and immediately said…What is that smell!  Too funny.

I appreciate your offer to help if I run into problems.  As far as I can tell, he is a sweet pooch and I should be able to handle what comes up.  I think Ellen will too as she has politely snarled at him when he is too excited and he immediately put his head down and walked away.

Hi Tina,
Well not only does she like plastic, she has gone through 5 of Chico’s stuffed animals. ha ha!!!!!  They are all totally disembowled. She is still food aggressive and we hope to get her over that but if not that’s ok she’s not too bad with it. She is very protective with the toys too, she doesn’t like to share much. Her and Chico are best friends.  They love to go bye bye.  Nakita is so funny, when I’m on the computer or doing something and she wants attention, she puts her nose under my arm and lifts it so it lands around her neck and she will keep doing it until I acknowledge her presence.  We are having a blast.  She is well loved and a permanent part of this family.

Tina I wrote:
I am so glad she’s getting along.  I was hoping you guys were able to deal with her food aggression.  She’s so weird about food that I actually found it kind of funny, in a “I hope she doesn’t actually take my arm off” way.  Didn’t I warn you about the plastic?  She was always trying to chew on my son’s plastic toys.  Not any of the other ones (most other dogs want to go after his stuffed animals), just the plastic.  And she chewed the nub off of my pooper scooper right after I washed it off and put it away!  🙂  She is such an imp. I really am glad for you guys. We loved her too, but weren’t interested in adopting right now.  Please continue to keep us updated and feel free to send pictures!  🙂  By the way, you’re welcome.  She is an awesome dog.

————– Original message ————–
HI TINA,
NAKITA IS DOING WELL, WE LOVE HER TO DEATH.  SHE WILL EAT SNACKS OUT OF YOUR HAND BUT DOES NOT LIKE ANYONE AROUND HER WHEN SHE IS NEAR FOOD.  SHE LIKES TO EAT OUT OF CHICO’S DISH INSTEAD OF HER OWN SO WE WILL PROBABLY BE SWITCHING THEM FOOD BOWLS, WE FEED THEM BOTH IN SEPARATE ROOMS SO THERE WILL BE NO FIGHTING.  SHE’S FITTING IN HERE GREAT. HOPEFULLY WE WILL GET HER TO BE DOING BETTER WITH HER FOOD AGGRESSION, AND IF NOT, WELL THINGS WILL STAY AS THEY ARE.  SHE SLEEPS ON CHEYENNES BED WITH HER AND THEY BOTH GO TO SCHOOL WITH ME.  ONE THING ABOUT HER, SHE IS FASCINATED WITH PLASTIC AND LIKES TO TEAR IT APART IF GIVEN THE SLIGHTEST CHANCE.  WELL KEEP IN TOUCH AND WE WILL WRITE MORE LATER, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HER. 

Tina I Wrote:
As Niki’s former foster mom, I just wanted to say hi and see how she’s settling in. I don’t know if any of the board members have contacted you since I’m not privy to that information, so I wanted to send you a note myself. I hope you guys are enjoying her as much as we did, and getting along ok with her food issues.   
What does Chico think of his new sister? I hope all is well, please write back.

We have adopted Mars and he is absolutely wonderful!  We love him so much that we couldn’t imagine our life without him.  Our vet says he is in perfect health and we think he is the “perfect puppy” too!  He comes when he’s called, he can sit, leave it, and tell us when he has to go out (most of the time). He sleeps through the night, he knows “bed” is his crate and he seems to like being in there when we are not able to keep an eye on him.  When we walk with him on a leash he walks behind us and leaves the leash loose.  He’s lovable and fun and way more than we had hoped for in a puppy – all we were going for from his picture was “cute”!  So happy that we were able to adopt him!

So far so good. Bear got home and loved the back yard. Princess was interested in him, but wasn’t quite sure. Bear showed a lot of interest in her, as if he wanted to play. We have just kept everybody their distance and used the crate. We let Bear out of the crate in the living room on a leash and played with him a bit, he was having a blast. We took some pictures of the very happy boy. We took Bear and Princess for a short walk this evening they enjoyed each others company but didn’t try to challenge the rules of one dog on one side and  the other on the other side. They were really, really good. Just with the little we have done with Bear on a leash today, there has been a large improvement since even this morning. So far so good, but we are taking baby steps. 

Everything will fall into place in time.

I can’t believe in June it will be two years since I picked Sierra up in Maple Valley.  She is such a joy in my life, and I just adore her.

She is doing great, and I thought I would just send some updated photos to WAMAL to let you folks know that she’s doing very well.  The two emails I’m sending are a little outdated in text, but the pictures of Sierra (or “boo-boo” when she’s being extra cute) are great.  The one attached to this email I find particularly funny.  The picture was taken at her doggy daycare for the fourth of July, and the photographer laughingly said that Sierra loved the camera, and having all eyes on her.  She really hammed it up!

The other email I’ll send has pictures of me, my boyfriend, Erik, and his Siberian named Kobi.  It took some adjustment (Kobi is 8, and has been an only dog all his life), but things are fine with both of them.  At home, they just act like the other isn’t there, but at the dog park they seem to “rediscover” one another, and have a wonderful time playing tag together.

I think WAMAL is a great organization, and it inspires me to someday want to have more resources so that I can adopt another mal., or even foster.

That is funny you emailed me, I was thinking about emailing everyone. Joshua is doing great. Had a few small issues at first; He ripped down my molding to my door and he likes to sneak off with food from the pantry, but that is so minor 🙂 Otherwise, all is great. I did take him to the groomer at the kennel and he freaked out! But I sat with him and he was a little calmer. Boy, he looks so handsome!!! He has been digging at himself to where he has patches of skin showing. Is this normal? He seems to leave our cat alone. He is interested at first when Zazu comes around, but never approaches him. We walk a lot and play all the time. He enjoys car rides and has done real well when other dogs are around. I did notice that he seems very protective of us. If he feels any one of us are in danger, he howls and barks. My son tells me everyday how much he loves his new puppy! I think it was well worth the wait to find Josh, he is truly a perfect fit for our family. Thank You!!! 🙂