12/12/04
    Well it's week 3 and Cola is fitting in great. She likes all her new friends especially Dawson our other Mal. She is even becoming good friends with our colt Dancer. She is a little scared of him yet but she keeps trying to get up the courage to get a little closer. He is quite interested in her but every time he moves closer she scurries her butt under the fence. She loves her daily walks and enjoys the nightly "on the bed visits" before bedtime. (ok she's spoiled) She has little problems with the cats as long as they don't take our attention away from her. She is going to obedience class in Jan and then we're going to try Agility with her-can't wait. Xmas is coming and she and Dawson are going to Calgary with us. She loves car rides. Cola is a loved member of our family and she has found her forever home!!
Matt here are some pics for  "Happy Trails". Can you adjust them so they look right (size, etc.) before they go on to the web page. You can use this email text for Happy trails also. Thanks 

11/30/04
     SugarNSpice, now known as Bella, is settling right into her new family.  Our first day home was interesting, as she ran around at a hundred miles an hour, checking out everything in sight.  She and Kuma, our 5 month-old Mal pup, are doing great together.  Bella is also doing really well with our cats.  She wants to check them out, but doesn't show any intention to hurt or harm them.  They avoid her, simply because she moves so fast.  She has found that being inside the house is pretty neat!  I found her curled up in my recliner this morning.  I also had to go let the two clowns out of the kennel at 4 this morning....it was snowing and they were like 2 kids in a candy store.  They couldn't wait to be turned loose in the yard!  We frequently catch Bella standing in the middle of the patio table....for what reason, we have no clue. 
    Bella loves to go for rides, as Vicki said!  She's enjoyed going to the office with me when I have to work.  If someone listened to her when she is playing, and didn't watch her body language, you would think she is the meanest dog in the world!  She has a vicious sounding growl but her lips aren't curled, her tail is wagging, and her ears are up.  Is this just an way of playing?  Is it a sign of under-socialization?  Her body language says play, but that growl sounds like it should come out of a dog 3 times her size.  If any of you have experiences with that, I'd love to hear them.
     So far it looks like everything is working out just fine.  Bella is such a truly sweet dog, and she is a having a lot of fun with Kuma.

11/28/04
    Bet your dying for an update. First things first, I have to break the news to you we changed Lola's name to Cola. Sorry but everytime we look at her color and her bubbly energetic personality we think of a bottle of Coca Cola and Cola is close to Lola so she answered to it right away. I hope you like it. Cola is adapting well. Her and Dawson are getting along better and can be in close quarters with each other now. We still don't leave them in the yard alone together unsupervised yet as they are still figuring each other out. Cola responds fairly well off leash in the pasture by our house(lots of good smells) and her and Dawson are fine with each other out there. On leash is another story. She is registered for an obedience class in January and I am thinking about doing Agility with her. She has so much energy and wants to please so badly that I think she'll love running the course.
    We have noticed that she is scared of small narrow spaces such as basement stairs and bathrooms. We have been working with her and she is now willing to go into the bathroom but not downstairs in the house. Outside is fine. As far as her touchiness around her back end- she is fine. I think trust is an issue with her. She is also fine if I hold her food bowl and she eats out of it, but if I am not holding the bowl and try and touch it while she is eating she definitely isn't happy about it. But we're working on that.
    Cola is an awesome girl and is as cuddly as you said, which is good because Brenda and I give lots of hugs. Here are some pics of her in the yard and on one of our walks. I will also send in something to the Happy Trails probably next week.
This is my favorite.
Next update will be Happy Trails.

11/24/04
Kodiak is doing great, and has finally settled into things completely. I didn't realize he hadn't until he did, if that makes sense. He finally has stopped finding easy places to sneak out and socialize with all the neighborhood dogs (who he gets along with, each one!) after only about a dozen or so separate fence repairs on my part! Life is pretty good and fun with the dogs, hope you are well too and have a good Thanksgiving!

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.