My puppies are frickin' awesome.

So, I went to Chicago for a week with Yishai and we made a “little” side trip (3.5 hours) to visit Piper with her owner at an agility trial.

  Piper, if you remember correctly, was one of the higher drive puppies, and also the one we’d all tagged as maybe the hardest to raise so I wanted to be sure she went to an experienced home. When Bekka asked me about her (and she only wanted her), I wholeheartedly agree. Bekka has Fury’s aunt (ie, her mother’s litter sister) and a whole mess of dogs with the same lines. She competes a lot in agility, has stock, and is plain going to have an awesome home.

How awesome, I couldn’t fathom. She regularly sent me “THANK YOU SO MUCH” emails, but when I went to see her, I was estatic.

Piper remains the best structured puppy of the litter that I’ve seen. She is, however, a tiny, tiny dog. Here she is being measured by the 16” NADAC wicket (which is really 18” high).

She’s at least an inch UNDER Fury. Now, she’s 7 months old so she could totally grow, but . . . I really did not think it was possible to unintentionally end up with a smaller dog than the Fury – who is the smallest Aussie I’ve ever known that wasn’t bred to be small on purpose.

Bekka is always kidding that Piper is a blur, and she’s really not that bad. On top of that, I think that Bekka LIKES her that way and encourages her to party-hardy. I have a pretty good feeling I could make her mellow out pretty fast if I wanted to. But that would not be FUN! And that is what Piper exists to have and spread and I love it.

(Yes, too lazy to rotate this messed up one, big upload going on on Flickr)

She’s reserved initially and then friendly with everyone and every dog. Yishai was super disappointed she didn’t remember him, but she was still happy to be our friend as we fawned over her so much that someone asked us if she was a new puppy we just bought from Bekka! Quite the opposite!

Also, remember her coat being more . . . earthy than the other merles? Not so much anymore. Very interesting. She, too, has the tweed merling.

And so does . . .

EMMA!

 

Her owners came through town to help move my roommate out to Sacramento and left Yishai and I wine, a card thanking us for being good to Laura but mostly for Emma, and a bunch of photos.

Little Emma Fie Pie, the “bland” little puppy of the litter that never really caught peoples’ eyes has really grown up to be a looker, eh?

And if she looks like she’s lacking in “tuck up” – she is . . . remember I told her the Alzehiemer’s patients feed her? And she’s also pretty low energy – apparently despite her full capability, she refuses to jump on things, the Flowers actually lift her into the truck still. I guess I got them well paired – she doesn’t wanna exert, and they don’t mind helping her. I’d be poking her with sticks – my working dogs are gonna jump, dang it.

Take Piper for example, she FLOATS into the second-story crate in the big ol’ Ford 350 of Bekka’s.

(Yishai took a look at the above photo and goes, “a little straight in the rear still, but whatever.” Is he not the best-trained non-dog guy ever?)

And PS. Got home from vacation and find that Rippa’s ears are starting to think about going the way of Fury’s, only lower. Well, whatever. Good ears are good ears. Still watching that front of hers . . . love her however she turns out.