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.

07/24/04
I just wanted to update you on Oso's progress.
He's learning signs. His name sign is once around his nose with the index finger "O" and up to my eyes forming and "O".  Two O's is OsO - sort of. Anyhow it gets him to watch. He's doing good at Pawsability.  It's a little hard to re-enforce "stand" and he wants to sit but other than that he's quite good at obedience - but much better if it's before dinner and you have a treat. We are going to start training with the vibrating collar now that he has most of the basic vocabulary. This will allow him to go off leash in the back so he can work up to a sustained run (hahaha). I think he's tired of dragging the long line behind so that'll be nice for him.
He and Aku get along. They sleep together on separate beds, and spend portions of the day together in a kennel. We still supervise a little, but they get along great - except we do separate them at mealtime. Oso is a little bit protective of his bowl. He likes his food. They even walk together on loose-leashes side by side - cool! They can't play yet though since Aku is still mending.
Oso gets along good with the Pekes. Silver still barks at him, but I think mostly just for recreation. He's very patient with Monkey and doesn't mind when she runs under him. He does get a worried look if one of them sits on his bed though... then when they get off, he lies down on it.
He's great with the ponies - but he still wants to go in with them and play. He hasn't shown any real interest in the chickens. He looks at them, they run - he doesn't. He does like the cat though it doesn't like him.
His ears are doing better, still rinsing them out daily and applying drops. There's lots of calcification, but we are going to talk to Donna who does alternative treatments to see if we can't stimulate some healing. I swear that some days the swelling is down enough to the point he can hear a little... but you never know - he could just be psychic.
Anyhow - just wanted to let you know that he's doing very well, he's a very very sweet and intelligent dog.
Thanks again for everything!!

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!

07/18/04
I thought you might like an update.? I still don't have any photos for your collection, but I will send one as soon as I do.
Sitka and I are doing great. We do a four to five mile walk daily, and we visit his buddy, Beau on weekends which gets him some run and play time. They have really become great friends. He passed one tremendous challenge at Beau's about three weeks ago. The fence there is only five feet high, and despite the presence of horses, cows, chickens, two more dogs and rabbits on the other side of the fence, Sitka made no attempt to go over! He failed a couple of other challenges however. Someone opened the gate at Beau's the following week, and Sitka blitzed out of it and ran, ignoring all manner of commands to come back.
I went after him in my truck, but he caught sight of a deer and disappeared into the woods after it. I drove home, thinking he would be most likely to return there. The folks at Beau's saw him about an hour later returning down the lane, but as soon as they went out to call him he was off and running again. The kids gave chase on foot, and I picked them up in my truck. Sitka stayed on the lane this time but was running all out up the lane into the hills. I caught up with him, carefully passed him, and stopped about 100 feet ahead of him. He came up to the truck stopped, and laid down on the ground panting. Poor guy was run out!? He jumped in the truck on command and was pretty subdued for the remainder of the day.
Runaway number two came just last Thursday night. I was sitting in the living room reading a magazine with the front and back doors open for ventilation (it was a very warm day). The screen doors were closed of course, but that didn't matter. Sitka was lying down at the front door. He barked, sat up, flipped the screen door latch open with his paw and was off and running before I could even call his name. I ran out after him in time to see his tail disappearing up the hill behind the house in hot pursuit of the deer that had gotten his attention. I went back in the house for my glasses, but by the time I went back out again, Sitka was nowhere to be seen or heard. I whistled and called for a bit, though it was pretty clear to me that he wasn't going to respond.
At that point it was dark out, and there didn't seem to be any point in trying to find him. I went back in the house and went to work in the office for awhile. About an hour later there was a knock at the front door. My immediate thought was, "Oh, God, Sitka's gotten into a neighbor's chickens or something." There was another "knock-knock-knock" at the door, and I went to see who it was. As I walked through the house there was a third "knock-knock-knock" at the door. It was Sitka!? He was sitting there, panting like crazy. He reached up and knocked on the door one more time with his paw, "Come on, Dad, let me in. I need a drink of water!"
What can you do?? He ran off, but he came home too. I gave him hugs, tummy rubs and a couple of biscuits and went to bed (with the doors closed!).
One final note. Sitka has this wonderful habit at bed time. He takes a final drink of water as soon as I start turning the lights off in the house. Then, when I get into bed, he jumps up and snuggles for about three or four minutes before jumping down, curling up on the floor by the bed, and settling down for the night.
All-in-all, I think we're making a great team.
P.S. Sitka really despises guns and fireworks. He doesn't seem to be afraid of them, but he gets agitated and barks a lot. We stayed home for July 4th.

07/13/04
A little over a year ago we adopted Juneau through WAMAL.  He has been a joy to live with.  We had 2 other puppies (I call them all puppies) Wolfy a Shepard/malamute mix and Sheba a black lab mix.  We have been a very happy little family until just recently.  Wolfy at age 15 had to be laid to rest after a long struggle with arthritis.  I can not put into words my feelings with regards to his passing.
Walk in peace, for they shall know us only by the tracks we leave.