Happy 1st Birthday Maverick and Goose!!
Maverick and Goose share Jo's birthday of August 20th, so we had lots to celebrate that Friday. They turned 1 year old and are still growing (thankfully it's slowed way down though!). They actually cooperated pretty well with the party hats for a picture or 2 and were just happy to hang out with the family for their birthday.
Puppy Growth Rate
Goose: Maverick:
8 weeks old--15 lbs 8 weeks--16 lbs
10 1/2 weeks--23.5 lbs 10 1/2 weeks--26 lbs
13 weeks--31 lbs 13 weeks--34 lbs
15 weeks--38.5 lbs 15 weeks--41 lbs
17 weeks--40.2 lbs 17 weeks--46 lbs
18 1/2 weeks--46.2 lbs 18 1/2 weeks--50.8 lbs
20 weeks--50.8 lbs 20 weeks--54.8 lbs
22 weeks--59 lbs 22 weeks--64 lbs. (I don't think this was a growth spurt--Mike was on vacation for a week and was doing the feeding--they are looking a little fat!!)
24 weeks--68.6 lbs. (Goose was busy playing and didn't get weighed this time--can't believe Maverick is almost 70 pounds and he's not 6 months old yet!)
26 weeks--65.6 lbs 26 weeks--71.2 lbs.
29.5 weeks--77 lbs 29.5 weeks--80 lbs Wow!! We are almost at the 7 month mark and they are already 80 lbs. That is amazing how quickly they grow. If you have not seen them for a while they will probably blow you away with their size. And they will do some major damage! We have holes all over the backyard. Mike is going to build them a sandbox to dig in instead of the yard. Hopefully that will give them something to do instead of just destruction!!!
8 months--83 lbs 8 months--90 lbs
Thankfully we have slowed down a little bit on the growth. We went into the vet to borrow their scale. Mike said he wasn't picking them up after 80 lbs. to weigh them. ☺
10 months--93 lbs 10 months--100 lbs
8 weeks old--15 lbs 8 weeks--16 lbs
10 1/2 weeks--23.5 lbs 10 1/2 weeks--26 lbs
13 weeks--31 lbs 13 weeks--34 lbs
15 weeks--38.5 lbs 15 weeks--41 lbs
17 weeks--40.2 lbs 17 weeks--46 lbs
18 1/2 weeks--46.2 lbs 18 1/2 weeks--50.8 lbs
20 weeks--50.8 lbs 20 weeks--54.8 lbs
22 weeks--59 lbs 22 weeks--64 lbs. (I don't think this was a growth spurt--Mike was on vacation for a week and was doing the feeding--they are looking a little fat!!)
24 weeks--68.6 lbs. (Goose was busy playing and didn't get weighed this time--can't believe Maverick is almost 70 pounds and he's not 6 months old yet!)
26 weeks--65.6 lbs 26 weeks--71.2 lbs.
29.5 weeks--77 lbs 29.5 weeks--80 lbs Wow!! We are almost at the 7 month mark and they are already 80 lbs. That is amazing how quickly they grow. If you have not seen them for a while they will probably blow you away with their size. And they will do some major damage! We have holes all over the backyard. Mike is going to build them a sandbox to dig in instead of the yard. Hopefully that will give them something to do instead of just destruction!!!
8 months--83 lbs 8 months--90 lbs
Thankfully we have slowed down a little bit on the growth. We went into the vet to borrow their scale. Mike said he wasn't picking them up after 80 lbs. to weigh them. ☺
10 months--93 lbs 10 months--100 lbs
New cart, tandem pulling, always an adventure...
We purchased a new cart and got a set of harnesses that fit them a little better and have started training them as a team. It's not always the smoothest going, but they are doing really good as beginners. Goose thinks she is lead dog so she tends to pull and pull til she gets tired, while Maverick is the brakes. If she gets a little off course or is pulling too quickly we can count on him to slow her down or keep her on track. He is such a good walker and stays right by whoever is walking him while she tends to get easily distracted by other dogs, kids, etc. They will demonstrate their carting at the Dog Retreat at the Elms here in Excelsior in September so we have a lot of work to do before then to get them a little more prepared.
Pulling Carts...
Our latest adventure is to hook Maverick up to a wagon so he can learn to pull. Goose is going to do it too, but Maverick has a natural aptitude for it, so we are starting with him. Goose just wants to ride in the wagon every time we get it out! We borrowed this red wagon from our Dog Scout leader, Paula and have hooked Maverick up to it a couple times. He has done a great job so far. He's very focused on his job and not so much on all the distractions around him. He still needs to learn to recognize the word commands: left, right, whoa, slow down, etc but he is really getting the hang of it. We have ordered a new wagon and harness that should fit him a bit better and also converts into a double shaft so both of them can pull the same cart.
Nova and Maverick--kind of make Nova look little!!
Big Maverick the lapdog
Here's some destruction for ya!
the Gooser and the Gracer
The torn up couch (AND loveseat) when the pups were left out of kennel for the 1st (and only)time while we were all gone for the day
Woofstock 2010
We went to Woofstock in Kansas City for the first time this past weekend (April 25). It was a lot of fun and the girls really enjoyed seeing so many different breeds of dogs in one place. There was a police dog demo, agility demonstrations, costume contest (won by our Dog Scout leader and her 2 dogs), tons of animal related booths and giveaways, and more. We all--Mindy, Kris, Lauren, Mary, and Kate included--participated in the 1 Mile walk. The puppies did fantastic with the large number of people and dogs and it was really nice to talk to so many people that are "dog-friendly". There is another one of the dog-n-jog type events in a few weeks so we might go to that one too. Goose has entered that stage where she is a little fearful of strange men so we are trying to get her out and about as much as possible.
Bubba dog passed away on April 20, 2010. This has been a tough year for us with animals. He was such a great dog and made such a difference in the girl's lives in the 3 years we had him. He was at least 13 years old and had a softball size tumor that just took over his intestines. I will always be grateful to Bubba because he was the first dog that Mikayla became comfortable with. He showed her that she can trust dogs and gave her the confidence to come to love dogs. We will miss him greatly.
one of our last pics of Bubba--he got to ride in the back of the truck and was so happy!
Goose
Maverick
Another Graduation down
March 2, 2010 was the completion of our next puppy class. They completed Obedience Level 2 this time and did a great job. We'll take another class, but aren't sure which one yet. Might try something different then the obedience classes. We are also involved in Dog Scouts now. Similar to boy/girl scouts, but for dogs. They can even earn badges and everything. Just something else to get the puppies more socialized and out in the public.
The girls really enjoy teaching the dogs new tricks. Mikayla taught Maverick to go through her legs and sit when he comes out the front. It's pretty cute, but it will be interesting when he is full grown. And be careful if you are standing around near him and spread your legs into a "V"--He thinks thats a open invitation to go through!
The girls really enjoy teaching the dogs new tricks. Mikayla taught Maverick to go through her legs and sit when he comes out the front. It's pretty cute, but it will be interesting when he is full grown. And be careful if you are standing around near him and spread your legs into a "V"--He thinks thats a open invitation to go through!
Mikayla and Maverick's trick
always loved this picture of Toby next to Grace in the pack-n-play in January 2001
We had a bit of sadness here on January 5, 2010 to start the new year. Toby cat had lost a lot of weight and just couldn't make it anymore. He was a great cat and we all will really miss the big guy. Someday we might get another cat, but for now we have our hands full.
Mike and his big baby, Goose
practicing 'down'
Maverick at 5 months old
Well the puppies underwent their first surgery on Dec. 17th. They both got fixed, microchipped, rabies shots, and their regular vaccinations. Poor things, I'd be shocked if they ever want to get in the car again after that! But today (the day after) they are doing great, not licking stitches too much and want to play a lot more than they are allowed! Maverick almost didn't make the weight limit on the cheaper price for neutering (50 lbs and you have to go up in price). He was at 46 lbs that morning--probably a good thing they had to fast for 12 hours beforehand. They are growing like crazy and we have a ton of info from our puppy classes that we have to practice. They are getting used to their "gentle leaders" which are basically like a horse halter for dogs. It's designed for dogs with a natural tendancy to pull and it works great so far. They aren't fans of a strap going across their noses, but they have only had them a couple days. They will accept them soon enough and personally I like the fact that it doesn't go across their throats so that when they are really pulling hard they don't start coughing and gagging. Will try to post some pictures soon.
These 2 are growing like crazy! Maverick gained 6 lbs. in one week, Goose gained over 3. Gonna eat us out of house and home!! They are pretty well behaved so far. Working on housetraining them. When they are 10 weeks old we can enroll them in the Puppy Training class at Petsmart. They'll be 10 weeks on 10/29/09 so we will probably wait until the first week in Nov. to start the classes. Bubba is good with them now and Toby even seems to have accepted them. Neal and Denean might be up for Halloween so we can see how they do with Nova. That should be interesting!! These were some pics Mikayla took that turned out really well so we wanted to share them. Updates to come!
Gotta love Garfield...
This just reminded me of Toby and his "love" for Bubba (and all dogs, really!!) Made me laugh
Fish, Fish, and more Fish
The girls decided to get some new additions to the house in January with some of their Christmas/Birthday money. They bought a 14 gallon freshwater fish tank. There are 5 guppies and 5 Rasbora Hets in the big tank. Grace had a red and blue male betta in the tank for 1 night also (the picture is when he was still in there). After the first night, the blue guppy was missing a small chunk out of his tail, so Optimus Prime (the betta) had to be removed. Mikayla has named all of the fish, Bumblebee and Jazz are 2 of them -any Transformers fans out there will recognize a pattern with the names!! I don't mind the fish too much. Kind of a pain to clean and feed everyday, but oh well. I wouldn't mind having a saltwater tank eventually, if we get the hang of these guys.
Can't Forget the boys in the family!
Bubba is a 10 year old mix, 1/2 corgi and 1/2 border collie. He's a very good dog that we got in July from our neighbor. We've lucked out on his great behavior and temperment. He loves attention and the girls have really enjoyed the addition to the family.
Toby is an 8 year old mix that we got from the humane society 7 years ago. He is probably part Maine Coone. He tops out the scales at a hefty 22 lbs. He's a great cat and the girls call him their little brother.
