Peggy Sue is Now Tessa!

I am still getting calls and emails about Peggy Sue so I wanted to give you an update. Peggy Sue left earlier this week to join the family of our good friends, Marit and Lars Kulleseid. Marit and Lars already have one of our dogs, Loki, from the Baseball litter. Marit had been looking for another buddy for nearly two years but we hadn't found the right match.

Although I didn't remember it, Marit claims she told me she'd take Peggy Sue when the pups were only a few days old. She reminded me of that a few weeks ago after my vet had approved Peggy Sue's placement, positing that she would not need surgery on the bad leg. So, the whole family came over in stages to meet Peggy. Both Lars and Loki were taken with her and she was happy to meet them.

Peggy is now Tessa, Gaylan's Steel Magnolia. She lives in the next town over so I get to see her often. She has her own lake to swim in and mountains, fields and more to play in. I often train my dogs for field work on Marit and Lars's property so perhaps I'll see if Tessa wants to join in.

Marit took Tessa to the vet's yesterday. She also uses Jim Zgoda at Otterkill Animal Hospital, a great vet for anyone in the Hudson Valley who might be looking! She called me afterwards to say she felt like she was with a rock star. The entire clinic welcomed Tessa back as if she had won Best in Show at Westminster. Jim pronounced her healthy and sound, reassuring Marit that Tessa will be able to hike, swim, play and do everything that four-legged dogs do. Guess that fourth leg is just for insurance :-).

So the all of the Southerners are in their new homes and Andy and I can settle down for a long winter's nap. You will be able to see the pups with their new families on their webpage, once I get it updated. After that, you'll need to get out to agility trials, hunt tests or obedience trials from Florida to California to New York to keep up with these youngsters.

2009 was unusually busy for us since we sent four litters home during the year--the two-puppy Jimmy Buffet litter in January, the Gamebirds in June, the 4th of July litter in September and, as you know, the Southerners during the last week of the year. We've never done that much breeding before and probably won't ever again but it sure was a fun year to look back on.

Our next litter isn't due until July 2010 so I don't know how much I'll be posting on the blog. I hope you have enjoyed getting to know our puppies and how we raise them. I hope to blog a little about my thoughts on dogs and breeding but I can't promise anything so take care and all the best in 2010.

P.S. There are a few new photos and a video posted under Week 9.