7/3/21
We did Haddie's TPLO surgery and she's had good results on that side. Keeping her on bed rest was impossible so I had to move her to my mom's house (away from her/our kids to whom she has a sworn duty to follow and protect, despite the cone on her head, sedatives, and wicked limp). 

Now we've moved across the country and we'll have to do her other leg soon but at least we have more space and knowledge of the process, and hope that it is really an effective fix.

No big, and her medical update isn't why I'm writing. I wanted to thank you and your team for the emotional hand holding you did as we problem solved and fretted over Haddie's future with our family. It's been less than a year that we've had her and she is unequivocally the best dog we've ever had. She plays hide and seek with our toddler - even waiting for her to hide and being told to go look - no one taught her - she just knows how to play. And she plays chase with both our kids - army crawling behind our infant as she crawls away giggling. But she's also a saint and brings the kids their stuffed animals if they're crying, and she talks back to me if I'm being impatient with them, and she comes to get me if I'm doing housework and someone wakes up from nap (we seriously haven't had to use our baby monitor since we moved). And get this, SHE COMES WHEN SHE'S CALLED! Honestly, we never really trainer her, she just decided we were her pack and we're so lucky she did. She is basically nana from Peter Pan but really majestic. 

3/28/21
We didn’t miss the opportunity to celebrate his gotcha day. He got a full grooming and a double helping of his favorite raw dinner! The last year has been an absolute joy with him. He and his brother Koa have bonded seamlessly, our kids absolutely adore him and he’s been the best addition to our family adventures!

Things we have learned and adore:- In the snow is Kane’s happy place. We had to quite literally carry him inside during that last snow storm, he would have lived out there all weekend if he could (haha). Lucky for him, our family loves the snow just as much as he does and we chase it all year round- It’s not often in our area but, when he hears emergency vehicles, he howls in an exact-matching tone as their sirens- He sleeps in uncomfortable looking positions, but must be in absolute comfort because he snores incredibly loud- He greets people into our home by tapping his front feet and lets out short bark/howls that sound like he’s saying “Hello, hello, hello”

Thanks so much for checking in with us, we’re grateful to have found you guys!

12/14/20
Kubo is doing so great and seems really happy with his brother Cargo. He's getting a lot better with his recall too, which is exciting. 

11/17/20
We absolutely love Snowy!!  She is so affectionate which has helped us heal from having to say goodbye to our previous rescue dogs (a Mal who crossed the rainbow bridge a year ago in August and then the following month our Akita-GSD cross--cancer sucks).   Snowy loves to cuddle in the evenings and sleeps in our room at night.  She's most playful in the mornings (before 10am) and then sometimes again mid-evening, having several squeaky toys that we toss around the house for her to fetch or play chase (you can do a circle through our entry-kitchen-dining-living rooms--at least until you or her get dizzy).  We are still working on anxiety during car rides and acknowledge that she might not fully get over that (Sato, our Akita-GSD never did) and that's okay.  We put seats down so she can get close to the front and I just found the natural calming treats we tried with Sato so we'll try that next time.

She loves people but we watch her with young children because she makes a low rumbling sound (we call it purring) when she is happy, but then it can make it hard to tell when she has had enough and wants you to stop.  Our eldest (who was studying abroad in South Korea when we got Snowy) established a new procedure when we aren't sure if Snowy's still okay with the petting--we stop petting her, pull back a little bit, and ask her for her paw.  Petting resumes after she gives you her paw.  We've also been working on her "using her words" (a bark rather than rumbles).  She wasn't very talkative when we first got her (unlike Rainey, our last Mal).  I can guess why, her voice is more ear splitting than our prior Mal, but we think it's important for a Mal to feel free to Woo.  

She still has a pretty high prey drive, but we are used to that from our previous dogs (I grew up with GSDs).  We back up to a green space with squirrels who are pretty wiley so that gives her some entertainment but mostly she prefers to be indoors which is just fine with us. Our back yard is on a hill and she loves racing around--even after a morning walk.  She is not a fan of the rain but she's really good inside the house.  We had to have child locks on the cabinet with the garbage with our last Mal.  She is very content being the only dog and we are more than happy with that arrangement, too.  When people tell me we spoil her I say, "absolutely!"  We still set boundaries that we enforce, but there's a reason she knows the sound of the cheese drawer opening.