Category Archives: Our 3 Newfies

Annie, Annie's second chance, dogs, Our 3 Newfies

Annie turns 11!

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Wow! Another year has gone by and we are celebrating Annie’s birthday. This birthday is a big deal, she’s 11 and is still in really good health.  Last year before her party, we had just come from the vet.  She had her stitches removed from the removal of a cancerous lump as well as an EKG to evaluate an irregular heartbeat that appeared while she was in surgery.  Not only did she have a clear pathology report, her heart rate was normal which was a huge relief.

Since then, she has had a couple of ear infections but nothing else major and she continues to let her personality shine.  She has also responded so well to Winn.  She’s actually more lively and playful with Winn around, and she seems so happy.

We invited one of the neighbor dogs to join us, I baked pup cakes using the same recipe I used last year for her cake, got pictures of everyone in party hats and had a very fun party with lots of laughs.

It’s no surprise, Winn was not a fan of the party wear.

She was excited about the pup cakes, but then saw Maisie’s hat, snatched it off her head and played keep away.

Annie LOVED her treats and kept coming back for more.  She even started pawing at the plate in an effort to bring them closer so she could grab them!

Our guest wasn’t sure what to think about it all, but she seemed to have a good time and got a pup cake to take home and enjoy without being stared at by other dogs.IMG_1927

Annie, Our 3 Newfies, recipes

Annie’s birthday pupcakes

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Last year we celebrated Annie’s birthday for the first time and I wanted to do it in a memorable way.  I was planning on going to our local dog bakery for a cake but then decided to bake it myself, after all, I had made the majority of the birthday cakes for everyone in my family so making one for Annie should be pretty simple.  I looked at several recipes and settled on this one from Allrecipes.

This year I decided to make pupcakes with the same recipe and they turned out beautifully!IMG_1920

Annie's Birthday pupcakes

An easy dog friendly recipe that can be made into a cake or individual pupcakes

  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/4 peanut butter (I use natural peanut butter, stay away from anything with Xylitol as it is toxic for dogs. It is used as a sweetener in gum, peanut butter and toothpaste)
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 cup shredded carrots
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 6 cup ring mold, bundt pan or cupcake pan.
  2. Combine the egg, peanut butter, oil, vanilla, and honey, if desired, in a large bowl; blend well. Stir in the carrots and mix thoroughly. Sift together the flour and baking soda and fold into the carrot mixture. Spoon cake batter into prepared pan.
  3. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes or 15-20 minutes for cupcakes.  Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes; then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

 

 

 

Our 3 Newfies, Winn

Winn’s first beach day

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We have a wonderful spot nearby that we can take the dogs and let them swim.  It’s one of Maisie’s favorite places and she has been going since she was a puppy.

Maisie swims, runs and romps around. She loves to chase other dogs, especially when they are fetching a ball.  Sometimes this is OK, sometimes not, so she is very carefully supervised.  img_3325

We introduced the beach to Annie about 3 months after she had joined our family.  She didn’t leave the yard or house for several weeks and getting her into the car was a major ordeal, so we were very careful about making sure we were following her own pace when it came to new a new place and experience.

Annie prefers to walk the length of the beach, back and forth.  She likes the sand and sometimes dips her feet in the water but she won’t go in unless one of us walks out with her. IMG_2757

It really takes two of us to properly supervise them, one with Annie and one with Maisie so I decided that for Winn’s first time we should probably leave Annie at home so that I could introduce the water and see how she swam.

I read a couple of articles on hot to introduce a puppy to water for the first time and was so excited to see how Winn would respond to the beach.  She has already started to show some skills in retrieving and had played in the kiddy pool in our yard so I was pretty confident that she would be comfortable in deeper water while discovering her swimming instinct.

When we arrived we took some time meeting other dogs and letting her explore the sand and water.

Then we ventured into the water.  I guided her toward me, then a little deeper so that she swam a few strokes, then around me and back to the shore so that she could feel the sand reappear under her feet. On our first attempt she went between my legs which was a bit awkward.

Our next few tries went a lot better!

After doing this several times we took off the leash and let her do whatever she wanted.  She loved it, we loved it, and I look forward to going back and watching her spend more time in the water. We have another beach dog!

 

Our 3 Newfies

The oldest and the youngest

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I’ve been getting a lot of questions about how everybody is getting along and I can easily say that they are all getting along very well.

I never really thought about or wished for a 3 dog household. Last October, we were visiting friends with a new litter and I was clear with everyone around me that we are a 2 dog family and didn’t have room for another.  So what changed? In the back of my mind I know Annie is a senior and won’t be with us for a long, long time but I don’t want to predict when that might happen so I just thought seize the day, go with what feels right.

I considered all of the changes that I could think of but my biggest worry wasn’t about logistics (3 crates in one room is A LOT), increased food and care costs or the extra hair and muddy footprints. I was most worried about Annie and how she would respond.  I don’t want her to think we are replacing her or that it’s OK for her to start to slow down.  I have always felt that Charlie stopped fighting once he saw that we would be taken care of by Maisie. I’m still shocked that he curled up by my feet and then took his last breath. He was so quiet about it but seemed to be at peace.

Annie has changed so much over the past year and a half.  She is much more confident, very affectionate and is so devoted to my husband and me.  She and Maisie are good friends but Annie still doesn’t play with her.  Annie will chase me in the yard and give me a little body slam which will get Maisie very excited.  When Maisie tries to join us, on very rare occasions (usually when it’s very cold outside which makes them both more frisky) Annie might give her 20-30 seconds of play but then it always ends with Annie walking away and giving Maisie a scolding if she doesn’t back off.

When we arrived home with Winn, we stayed outside in the yard for introductions. Annie and Maisie were both curious and so, so gentle.  Winn was a bit overwhelmed and stayed between my feet as she took in her new surroundings and these two girls.  They both gave her some sniffs and then Annie strolled away, keeping a good distance for the rest of the day.  Maisie was more persistent and Winn was very clear with her about appropriate boundaries. It was pretty much what I expected from all of them but it didn’t take very long for them to adjust, settle down and accept each other.IMG_0814

It has been so fun watching Winn explore our house and yard and find her favorite spots.  She has discovered the tiny bathroom and likes the feel of the cool tile on her belly and the cast iron tub on her back.  She loves toys and will rummage through the toy basket when she’s ready for a new one.  She’s a crate hopper, she rolls around in all the crates but seems to like Annie’s best.  Once she has pulled out a toy, she will frequently drag it into Annie’s crate. Annie doesn’t play with toys but once Winn leaves her crate Annie will quickly go in and flop down without regard to any toy that may have been left behind. Winn enjoys being outside, both in our back yard and on our front porch and like every Newfie I know, she LOVES the water bowl.

The most heartwarming part of all of this has been watching Annie and Winn.  Annie really loves her!  She actually play bowed to Winn on day 2 and since then I have watched them playing together several times each day and of course she is so incredibly gentle.  Annie plays in very short bursts but to see her initiate play and willingly engage with Winn is wonderful, it’s a new behavior that we really have never seen out of her.  My husband thinks that for Annie, Winn is the puppy that she got to keep.  She gets to love her, play with her and show her the ways of our house and she isn’t a product of Annie’s mothering days which were filled with so much hardship.  I’m just relieved to see Annie so happy.

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Family life, Our 3 Newfies, Winn

Welcome home baby Winn!

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This last weekend was a joyous one.  Very early Saturday morning we began the journey to bring this sweet girl into our family.

We made it to our destination a little early and were rewarded with meeting the whole litter as they returned from getting their cardiac clearances.  They were a wiggly, fluffy  pile on this last day as a group. It was hard to tell where one stopped and the other started.

We helped transfer them all to their pen and then started the process of taking ownership of this special puppy.  It was a little emotional for all of us.  This was a big day full of changes and adjustments but I was so happy.

I did not make this decision lightly and had found this breeder about a year ago.  Adopting Annie had opened my eyes to the abuses of a careless breeder and I quickly learned about the differences in breeder techniques and how to find one that is ethical and doing it for the love of the breed and to support breed standards and health.

After a lot of behind the scenes research, which included referring to the NCA website and following their recommendations, talking to other Newfie owners and seeing a different breeders’ litter I decided I wanted to contact this breeder to start the next step of finding the right puppy.  Just as I needed to be comfortable with him, he also needed to be comfortable with me.  He would want to know what kind of home we had, what type of owner I am and how this puppy would be treated.  I would need his approval.

Annie has surprised me.  Once I figured out how old she was, I realized our time together would probably be shorter than I originally hoped.  Currently she shows no signs of decline, but with these big dogs I have learned that things can change pretty quickly so it seemed like the right time to start the process.

I took a leap and made the first contact in January.  I wanted to introduce myself and find out what his letter plans were for the year. I was hoping for late summer/early fall but he had just bred his girl. If she was pregnant she would be due in March and then she would retire.  His next litter wouldn’t be for 2 years because he would wait for his other girl to mature. I thought about it for about 2 seconds, and then decided I still wanted to pursue a puppy from this breeder, at this time if possible.  He couldn’t promise me anything.  There were other people ahead of me that had interest in this litter and he would have no way of knowing if there would be one for me until after they were born.

I’ve learned that if you wait for the perfect moment to do something, you might not recognize that moment when it appears.  There are always reasons and excuses to put something off, but I decided to seize this opportunity and felt like the positives outweighed the negatives.

I am so glad I made that decision that day. I was still hurting from the loss of my best friend.  She died Thanksgiving weekend, 3 weeks after receiving a Leukemia diagnosis.  On Jan. 2nd, my dad was diagnosed with Liver Cancer and I spent about 3 weeks in February with him while he went through radiation therapy but at the end of March, he took a turn and I rushed back to his side and stayed there until he passed away 4 days later.

I had hoped to bring the puppy for a visit at the end of May when my dad was supposed to have a scan to determine the success of his treatment. As I sat by his side, I shared pictures and updates with him as they came in from her breeder, and told him I would be naming her after the lake in New Hampshire that we both loved so much. My dad wasn’t able to talk, but I could read his face and knew that he was happy for me.  There is no way I could have known on that January day all that would transpire over the next several months, but having this sweet, fluffy puppy in my arms brings me the joy that I’ve recently been searching for.

This is Winn.  Her name is inspired by years of wonderful memories spent at my parents lake house and riding in my dad’s boat on Lake Winnipesaukee.  She is 10 weeks old and she makes our pack complete!IMG_0923