Scarlet at Six Months

This pup is growing and continuing to give us her love and energy. She wants to be as close to us as possible, and sometimes that means in our lap or even on TOP of us! Jenna was doing homework one day when Scarlet found her appealing, and the only way to get close to her (her lap was occupied by the computer) was to climb on top of her. She loves Kelly the mostest because he plays and rough-houses with her. She just climbs right up in his lap. Scarlet is a little different than Sariah in this way. Sariah wanted to be near us, but she was content with putting her body next to a leg or a foot. She didn't climb on the couch ever. She loved her bed and would cozy up there when we were all in the living room. Scarlet wants to be in our laps, will climb right up on the couch and isn't interested in a dog bed at all. The only place she is comfortable is in a lap, right next to us on the couch, or on the couch by herself. She will not go near the dog bed, nor will she curl up on the floor unless she's on a foot.  So crazy, but she loves us.

San Elijo Camping

This year's family vacation to San Elijo was special. Every year is special, but this was the last year with two "kids." Heather had turned 18, but she was still at home so-to-speak, and still a kid. When we return as a family, Heather will be an independent, adult human. While I sat on the beach I kept having flashing backs of the little people who used to run around on the beach in front of my chair and build sand castles for hours. Sniff, sniff.  Anyway, we brought Scarlet with us, and she loved the beach. We took her for walks and let her hang out around the campfire. She slept with Jenna, climbed up to give Kelly hugs and love the dog beach. We had to keep her on a leash which was a bummer because she would have galloped around forever. We took her to Besta Wan because they are dog friendly. She did great! You know, we had originally thought about saving up for a trip to Europe this past year because we were going to be celebrating Heather's graduation, her 18th birthday, my 50th birthday and our 30th wedding anniversary. But after talking about it for a bit, Heather decided she wanted to have her senior summer to be full of all the sentimental things she's loved over the years. San Elijo is one of those things, and we were so grateful to get a camping spot and to have so much fun together hanging out at the beach, playing games like Hearts, and sitting around the campfire.

This Dog of Ours - Scarlet 5 Months

Scarlet does not care that the couches are made of leather, that she is a warm body or that it's 100 degrees in the house.  She wants her cuddle time. She is more cuddly than Sariah ever was. Sariah wanted to be near us, but not exactly on us. This dog wants to be connected to us. When winter comes and we're cold, that cuddly body heat will be nice.  We spent a lot of time camping with her this month. That post is under the San Elijo heading. We're enjoying her sweetness immensely.

Scarlet at Three Months

Puppy naps and puppy snuggles. She sleeps or plays and when she plays, it can sometimes get muddy. Sariah didn't dig, but this pup likes the water and dirt combo. Too bad I didn't catch her until she'd muddied the floor. She also seems to find short cuts to eating when she's tired. That cracked us up. When we took her to the vet for shots, Kelly had to hold her because, who knew? Puppy pads pick up germs and can transfer to the pup before six months. So he held her large self in his lap. We better get her shots done fast! She's going to be too big for laps soon. Why is it that I don't know if she'll think she's too big? Her daddy thought he was a lap dog and still does. He's like 100 pounds.

Welcoming a New Pup - May

On May 6, 2017 we drove back to San Luis Obispo to pick up our new puppy. Sariah's dad had a new litter with a different momma. The breeder offered to let us choose a pup once other paying customers had chosen. We had our eye on a pup named Nala, but we had to be patient and see what the other owners did. Nala turned out to be one of four pups who had something called "parrot mouth" which is a slight over bite. The breeder could not sell her for top dollar so, she became available. We didn't care that our pup wouldn't be "show" perfect. We wanted one who was smart and sweet like Sariah. It turns out Nala was very much like Sariah and without even knowing which pup she was, we picked her out of the litter the same way we did Sariah. She wanted to cuddle and stay with us, would venture out, but would then come back. When we found out it was Nala, we were set. Kelly was with us this time, and it was nice to have him there to give his opinion. It was a true family decision.

We have named her Scarlet. The name took us several weeks to come up with because we needed to agree, and we couldn't agree. We tried Nala for a while, but we wanted an S name. Scarlet seemed to be a good fit because we didn't know a human Scarlet, it could be a dog's name and it started with an S.

She is a sweet pup. She licks a ton and her little tail wags faster almost as if apart from her body. She want's to snuggle up or sleep at our feet. She has met our friends and even found our bed. She's getting to know the lay of the land, and although she is a little needier and cuddlier than Sariah, we seem to really enjoy that. Our hearts are healing.