12/24/04
Season's Greetings from Rocky and Liberty
We thought we would let you all know things are still going well with our Rocky and Liberty.  As you know the day after we brought Rocky home Jim had him out for a walk of several miles.  Everyday since the 3 of them, Jim, Rocky and Liberty put in 2 walks a day anywhere from 2-5 miles each walk. As a result Jim’s arms are now 6 feet long. So far Rocky is not showing any signs of discomfort or wanting to quit.  He is very eager to go all the time.  He appears to be a perfectly healthy fellow.  I have read some of the notes from the vet in Bellevue Animal Shelter and I am not sure why he felt Rocky had hip problems because he sure it not showing us any problems.  What you don't know is they take their walks down on the Interurban trail her in Kent.  Soon after we got Rocky Jim felt the cab of his truck even though it has a little extension was to small for these giant mals so he modified it by taking out the passenger seat.  Now there is plenty of room for the three of them and none for me.  Oh well don't say we don't pamper our pets.
As you heard two weeks ago they did get into a fight in the middle of the night with Liberty getting a little bit of the short end.  She did have her vet appointment already scheduled that day so they looked over her wounds which were a few little puncture marks and we have been giving her antibiotics since then.  She is doing well and does not seem to be scared of Rocky in any way as a result.  Since we were asleep we are not sure what caused to fight but I thought it might be over a toy since Liberty had a stuffed animal and Rocky had been eyeing it.  So off to Value Village I went and got a bag full of stuffed animals.  Now we make sure there is always two toys out.  However the other day Rocky figured out how to carry both in his mouth at the same time.  Later Liberty walked by and without stopping grabbed the animal out of Rocky's mouth and kept on going.  Smooth move that girl of mine has.
Liberty and Buddy used to play on the back deck, running back and forth having a great time.  She had tried to get Rocky to do the same but so far she had not had much luck.  I tried a few times and I get him going for a few seconds but that it.  Hopefully he will catch on to the running and wrestling thing because she likes it and it is fun to watch them play.
Rocky is a real love.  He looks so goofy with those floppy ears.  Does not look like the mals but he sure does have their sweet temper.  WAMAL'S website is correct they are not good watchdogs.  The other day the mailman brought me two packages and I thought this would be a problem since they were in the house.  Not at all those two lazy guys were laying on the living room floor with the front door open as if nothing was going on.  They could care less.  I guess if we do get robbed those two will probably show the thief where the good stuff in hidden.
Everyone enjoy the holidays

11/21/04
Dave - I was just in process of ordering a harness for Micah that we adopted through you last June and happened to pull up this old email. Thought I'd send you an update how well Micah is doing here.
His weight went from 63 pounds last June to 87 pounds. He is now healthy and energetic - acts like a puppy half the time. He's doing great. His favorite spot is to sleep on our bed with his head on my wife's pillow, whenever she is not at home. Humorously the dogs broke into our food cabinet last Friday and between then split about 10-12 pounds of dry food. Pretty funny - we went ahead and put food out for everyone that evening and everyone ate except for Micah – he just looked at his food bowl with this look on his face that said, "I don't think I could eat another kibble..."
We also adopted a Siberian Husky from Adoptahusky in late summer. All 4 dogs are doing great - everyone goes on hikes, walks and jogs a lot. He has even been camping with us in August.

07/30/04
Just a note to let you know that Micah is doing super well in Spokane.  
He's a super dog. Very smart. Excellent food thief (heh heh). Loves attention ("Your attention or I sit in your lap" routine). Is gaining weight at a slow, steady rate (in spite of food thievery).  He's pretty easy to walk, once he got the hang of it. He does not pull as much as Sable but he likes a good pace. I think he'll do well skijoring this winter.
Gets along with cats perfectly. Incredible story: one of our cats experienced a seizure last week (now under control with meds). Micah ran up and began licking the poor cat, thinking he would calm down the cat. Amazing sight to see.
The first week or so, Micah thought it would be cool to try and run out the front door - then it occurred to him, why? He clearly prefers it here and no longer finds that game amusing. Other than the occasional growls over who owns a chew toy, they get along fine, lick each other in the chin, etc. No food fights.
We feel very lucky to have Micah here.

07/23/04
I'm attaching pictures of Kahuna (formerly Larry) taken last week. One is with Bubba, his best cat buddy; one during play in the yard; one with his morning dish; and one getting brushed (?) He is a pleasure and very easy to train. He goes on runs and to the beach on a regular basis and only chases deer out of the yard, not into the woods.
We appreciate again the job you folks are doing. Thanks for making it possible for Kahuna to find his forever home and for us to find such a great addition to the clan!

03/19/04
Hi Matt and Jodi.  I was so happy to hear from you.  I had sent out an update on Liberty around Christmas time but yours was returned to me undelivered.  So now I have your new e-mail and can include you in since I know you love our Liberty so much.
Thanks for the reminder about her vaccinations.  Our Vet had also sent us a reminder and she will have those tomorrow.  Several weeks after we brought her home we took her to the vet along with the paperwork you had sent from Clearview and they entered all her important info into their records.  We also had her microchipped at that time.  Don't want to lose our lovely girl.
She is one very very happy camper.  It took her awhile to get used to her new home and settle in.  Think some adjustment needed to be made from kennel life to a home again. Within the first few days she had knocked over all my potted plants on the deck spilling plants and dirt so she could play with the pots.  I now know I will only have hanging baskets from now now and when she wants new toys all I need is a plastic pot.  As you know she is a digger as evident by 3 hole in the middle of our backyard.  Typical mal.  You can't get mad at her she is just so cute.  She just looks at you with those pretty eyes like what's the problem I'm just a mal and so pretty.
Every morning and evening no matter what the weather Jim takes her and Buddy on their walk. Each walk is at least 5 miles.  She had no problem adjusting to that and loves it.  Usually in the morning after their walk Liberty and Buddy play on the back deck their favorite place.  They spend another 30 min or more running up and down the deck and wrestling with each other. Poor Buddy usually is the one who ends up soaking wet with Liberty slobbering all over him. Once in awhile she lets him get the better of her.
We have found we have had to Liberty proof the house.  Put everything up high or she takes off with it and chews it all up.  Already gone through 2 remote controls and Jim's glasses.  Our fault for leaving them in her reach.  She and the cats are doing ok.  Our oldest one is not to happy having her around but he deals with it.  The youngest one is scared of Liberty most of the time but is getting used to her.  The problem is Liberty wants to play with Sissy and of course can't since she is so big. Poor Liberty just can't understand why this cat does not want to play like Buddy does.  It does get interesting trying to keep track of the 4 animal and making sure they are all getting along.
Attached are a couple of pictures we took when she first arrived.  I hope I managed to do the attachment right.  I am still trying to figure out how these computer work.  Your Happytails site is great.  So nice to see these dogs find a great home.  I still check out the dogs on the WAMAL site and wish I could have all of them.