Hello! It's been some tince since you've heard from us, and a lot of exciting things have happened at our home during that time. Atka and I are doing fine, and have managed to survive another hot summer in Arizona. (which is soooooooo difficult when you sleep all day in front of a fan on the tile floor --Brian) Atka's gotten a little chubby, she weighed 126 pounds when we went in for our checkups 3 weeks ago. The vet wasn't concerned at all though, she's not really flabby, but very stocky, and still growing! Our human mom is a little concerned though, she thinks Atka's getting fat. I'm trying to help her out by eating part of her food when it's dinner time, but Atka's a sneaky little girl, she'll get me distracted and playing games with her, then run back in the house and steal the rest of my food while I'm relaxing in the yard! It all ends up a wash. I was 115 pounds at the checkup. My people forgot to measure our height though, I'll remind them to do it next time we go in.

My people got a new little person too. My human mom and dad went away for a couple of days and when they came home they had a little human puppy with them. It's been very exciting since he came home. There are new smells, new things to steal, and a brand new person to love and protect. Atka and I take shifts, though at first I had to remind her that I was supposed to get a turn too and out people had to bonk us a couple of times. We got it all sorted out though. He sleeps a lot, so he fits right in with us, but boy when he's awake he sure makes a lot of noise! I think it's because they put him in that wierd kennel at night and he can't relax on the nice tile like Atka and I get to do. Oh well, I remember the nights I used to spend in my kennel too, he'll probably get to sleep with us once he gets past his "eating everything in the house during the night" phase.

(Our newest "puppy", Liam, was born 9/30/07. Mom and Liam are doing well, though having a baby in the house again is proving to be a big adjustment for us all. We wouldn't trade it for the world though. --Brian)

Atka and I have been out walking and annoying the neighborhood cats and rabbits. We haven't managed to catch any of either flavor yet, but I think it's our responsibility as dogs to keep them in top form by chasing them any chance we get. And who knows, some day we might actually catch one, and wouldn't that be fun! Well, *I* might catch one, Atka's not so good on the sharp cornering skills, she needs some practice to keep up with then when they zig-zag. I think I'll ask my human dad to take a movie of it and send it to you. It's pretty funny to watch.

I guess that's about it. My people dad is sending a couple of pictures of us with the new puppy, and one of us having a blast with a box one afternoon.

Hope all's well and please say hi to everyone for me!

Love, Loki   November 25, 2007

Some updated pictures of the puppies. I got them up and on the scale at the house the other day and they both weigh 114 pounds. Loki's taller, but Atka's wider :) Little miss thing's been in the dog house recently with mom, she keeps stealing laundry from the laundry hamper and then taking it out back and getting Loki to play tug'o'war with whatever she's filched. We've been keeping the doors to the laundry room shut, but all it takes is one mistake and she's off to the races.

We took them up to play in the snow in January. Loki dove right in and had a ball, but Atka wasn't so sure what to make of it. It took her about an hour to make up her mind that it was ok, then she was off. She's not as big on water and snow as Loki is. He takes every opportunity he can to get wet, she's more proned to play in the mud left over, but only after the water's gone.

They've taken to lounging on an old table we have set up out back

That's about it for us. Hope all is well at the kennel. :)

Brian   April 17, 2007

Here's a few updated pics of the puppies. Loki's rediscovered his appetite and has begn to fill out. His last vet check 2 weeks ago he was 112 pounds, though we've noticed that his head's gotten wider and he's finally starting to get a little bit of a belly :)

They cornered a cat the other night, that was interesting. Most of the time they never make any noise except their "play chatter", but the other night, they were both out along the side of the house just going ballistic. I chased them back in the house and went to take a loo, and sure enough, there was a really pretty butterscotch colored cat hiding in the gap behind our shed where they couldn't reach her. I opened the gate and after a few minutes she took off like her tail was on fire. I can't imagine why :) That was 4 days ago, and the first thing they do every time the go outside now is make a beeline for that corner to see if the cat's come back for another visit. :)

We've started to work with them on pulling, and so far, they're winning. They LOVE to pull, but they don't like to listen. I had Loki on a leash and he was pulling me on a bike, and decided it was time to run. I was on both brakes and hauling him back as hard as I could and I still only managed to stop him after about a hundred feet. Atka pulled Christy-Ann off her bike and down the street on her stomach trying to catch Loki. Fortunately all that got hurt was her pride. They did both sleep like the dead after that though, so I guess they got a good workout :) I picked out a couple of nice harnesses for them, so we'll order those next week and get them used to them, and then we'll try it again.

Guess that's about all for now, hope all is going well at the new digs, they look amazing from the pics!

Brian   October 21, 2006

Hello! How are you? I hope all is well and you're having a good time at the kennel. My life has been very busy sine the last time we talked, a whole lot of strange and exciting things have happened.

First off, I got a new sister! Her name's Atka, and she's a pain in my tail, literally. Seems like every time I get up, she grabs hold of my tail and tugs on it! I try and ignore her and just walk away, but I end up dragging her along behind me because she won't let go. Little sisters sure can be dumb sometimes. She and I talked about where she came from, and she said she was from your kennel! She sorta smelled familiar when she got here. We figured out that I'm her uncle, and she's my aunt. I guess in people society that's a little creepy, but I think since we're dogs it's ok. We play a lot. She plays rough for such a little dog, and man does she talk a LOT! I never heard a dog with so much to say. (Loki has become much more vocal with Atka in the house too, they will lie on their backs and hoot, yip, warble, and growl at each other for hours, just as happy as clams. --Brian)

My dad people started a neat new treat program for me. One day a week, he gets up early and makes me a yummy breakfast treat. It has bacon and eggs in it, and my normal food. I sit patiently next to him while he cooks the bacon and eggs. Sometimes I just can't wait and I'll try and sneak in while he's not watching for a little pre-breakfast snack. I haven't managed to get close enough yet to actually get more then a long sniff though, but I'll keep trying! (If I don't make breakfast on Sundays, I get the sad face all day, both from the dogs and the kids. --Brian)

Not too long ago we went on a trip to my buddies Puc and Hagrid's house. it was Atka's first long trip in the car, and she was awfully bouncy the whole way there. Made it hard for me to take my afternoon siesta. That's spanish for nap. They speak a lot of spanish out here in Arizona, so I figured I'd better learn the lingo. I've been learning from the chihuahua's up the street. They talk really fast though, so I don't know a whole lot yet because I can't understand most of the things they're saying.

Anyway, we got to Puc and Hagrid's house and got to go swimming again, but Atka wouldn't go near the water. My people dad put her in one time to show her where the steps were in case I pushed her in, but after that she wouldn't come near the pool. She doesn't know what she's missing. I got kicked out though, My people mom's dad said something about me plugging up some filter or something because I was shedding. It's not MY fault, it's just the way I am. Maybe he should get a bigger filter thing so I dno't plug it up while I'm enjoying my swim.

Just this past week, my people dad made ice cream. It was delicious. I wasn't supposed to have any, but they left it down where I could get it and it was just tooooooo good to resist! I hope he makes it again soon, and maybe with some cheese on it! That would be great!

I guess I'll wrap up for now, it's time to go play with Atka. Thanks for sending her along, she's pretty fun, for a girl. I'll try and write again sooner this time, but it depends on how busy me people get. I still hit about 13 keys on the keyboard every time I try and type out one word, so I have to get them to help me.

Love,
Loki.

P.S.
Atka asks if you can please let her mom Ruby know she's doing ok, and that she'll try and write to her soon.
-L

************************************
Jolene,

Both pups are doing Ok. I guess Loki's not really a pup now that he's over a year old, but he's still a pup to me. He's probably about 30" at the shoulder, but he's still hovering just over 105 pounds. I figure once his growth plates fuse he'll start packing on weight, he still hasn't grown into those paws quite yet. He has his rough dyas with the panosteitis. I can tell when he's growing because he hobbles around all day. Atka was 55 pounds at her vet check 2 weeks ago. She's going in for her spay in about 3 more weeks, and then we get to referee two hyperactive dogs for 10 days while the sutures heal. That will be fun...

Some photos attached, both of Loki and Atka.

Hope all is well and you're getting settled in nicely at the new place! :) --Brian :)  

Hello. I hope things are going all right back there at the kennel. I've been doing the usual out here, growing, eating, chasing my boy Kaleb all the time, sleeping, and chewing on things. That last one gets me in trouble though. I like to sneak upsairs and steal Dustmop's squeaky toys when she's outside and chew them up. Boy, do I get in trouble though! I try and tell them it's not my fault she leaves them out where I can get them, but my people always take HER side and get HER a new squeaky toy when I chew up the old one. I have plenty of toys, but one of them squeak anymore, they're all hard rubber or bone and I can't just tear through them and spread the stuffing all over the room like I can with hers. They did buy me a neat new toy though. It's a stick with rubber balls at either end, and when they throw it across the room or the yard, a light blinks on and off inside! It's the coolest thing!

My mom people has a couple of toys I'm not allowed to play with. They have hard tops, and their heads and legs poke out through holes in their tops. They move around by themselves and eat the flowers and plants in the yard when they're down on the ground. They move pretty slow though, they wouldn't be very good at chasing things. Normally my mom people keeps them in a big pool up on a table in the back yard. My dad people let me look at one of them once, I tried to pick it up with my mouth to see what it was and he bonked me! Anyway, last week we took these toys to Dr Cromer the vet so he could play with them. I got to go along so I could get weighed. I weighed 101 pounds on the vet scale, but I don't like to sit on it, the metal makes my paws cold, even through the blanket they have on it. Anyway, Dr Cromer let me look at one of my mom people's toys after he was done playing with it. I was sort of suspicious about the whole thing, like it was some sort of test. So, I just looked and decided maybe it was a good idea to not pick it up this time. That must have been the right thing, because the vet gave me puppy treats and a rawhide chew. I didn't even have to get shots!

(We have 2 juvenile Sulcata tortoises and it was time for a checkup --Brian)

My people got some new toys that they keep in the garage. They make a lot of noise and my people ride on them out in the dirt. I get to go along and hang out with my people and explore the places they ride their noisy toys, so it' s been a lot of fun. Sometimes they take other people out with them and they have what my mom people calls a cookout. I especially like that because usually I get to eat the leftovers. My dad people doesn't like me having people food, but my mom people sneaks it to me when he's not looking or not around. I've decided that hamburgers are good, but I like these things called sausages better. My people don't like me eating sausages though, I get, well, to put it delicately, I get mighty windy after I have a sausage.

Today, I got to go play in the snow! I didn't even know it snowed in Arizona, but my people packed me up in the truck this morning and when we stopped, we were in snow up to my elbows! It was awesome! I jumped and played. I dug and tunneled, I rolled, and plopped. I chased my boy people and tumbled them in the snow. I played catch with snow and I ate a whole bunch! It was a great day! My dad people said he'd send some pictures along with my letter from today.

(We had a massive winter storm yesterday, and it was actually snowing at our house in Mesa, though it didn't stick here at the house. This morning we took the kids to Sunflower this morning, which is about 40 miles and at about 3500 feet above sea level. They got 10 inches of snow overnight.. Another 20 miles up the road at Payson they got 31 inches in 18 hours. All the mountains around Phoenix are thickly blanketed in snow down to the 2000 foot level today, and probably will be at least through this week. Don't ever let anyone tell you it doesn't snow in the desert J --Brian)

I guess that's about I for now, Oh! I keep hearing my people saying something about a me having a sister coming, do you know what they're talking about?

I need to go take a nap now, all the playing in the snow wore me out! Please tell my mom I'll write to her sooner next time and I miss her.

Love,
Loki

-- Translated for Loki by Brian March 12, 2006

Loki hasn't been too into writing letters for the past couple months, so I figured I'd send some updated photos and a quick rundown of what he's been up to.

As of about an hour ago he was just over 101 pounds according to the scale here at the house. He's pushing 28" at the shoulder, based on the "walk between dad's legs and see if I still fit" measurement.

He loves playing in the water still, and bath time is a favorite. I think he has just as much fun drying off as he does while he's actually in the tub. (see he bath time photo).

He's been trying our patience a little bit, backsliding on some behaviors we'd rather not see from him. He's been finding things to chew on and mutilating them. We had him working on on sections of cow femur, figuring that they'd take him a while to chew through. He goes through about 3 a month though, which really surprised me. I didn't think his jaws were that strong. He got hold of my brand new riding boots the other day and chewed through one of the buckles. I just about came unglued. Fortunately the buckles are designed to be replaceable, so all I have to do is go get a new one, but man, I was NOT a happy dog dad when I walked in from the garage to find that. He's also been rooting for table scraps. We usually have to put the trash can up on the counter to keep him out of it. Recently though he's learned that he can get into the outside trash can and tear open tha bags if the can's too full (usually the night before it gets picked up. I haven't figured out how I'm going to break him of this one, since we usually don't catch him in the act. I may have to set him up a couple of times so that I can catch him red-pawed and get him to stop doing it. I guess I could build a little pen for the garbage cans too.

He's starting to get a little braver when someone comes to the door. When he was younger he'd run for the back door whenever people came to the door. Now he is the first one there when someone knocks or rings the bell. He doesn't bark, though we've gotten a growl out of him once when someone came to the door selling magazines. Guess he didn't have a subscription to Dog Fancy on his list, so Loki didn't like him. :) If it's people he knows, he tries to open the dumb door! He'll get a paw up on the knob and try and work it open. He's gotten in open once, so we make sure the deadbolt's thrown now. If he decides to take off I'm not sure I can catch him, though I'm pretty sure he'd show back up at dinner time if he got out.

We took him out dirt bike riding with us yesterday and today. He mostly stays near one of the boys (See the dirtbike picture, Loki and Kaleb taking a break in the back of the truck). Since he can't really ride a dirtbike or a quad, he hangs out with the truck and whoever happens to be around it. Yesterday was his first time going out with us, and at first he was unfomfortable with the noise from the bikes and wanted to stay in the truck. Today he was out most of the day digging in the dirt, stealing sunflower seeds, climbing on the trailer, and trying to look cute so people would come say hi to him. He's very people social, when we go out for our walk and meet neighbors with dogs, he'll ignore the dog until the people have said hello to him. Sometimes he'll forget completely about the other dog if the people pay enough attantion to him. There's a couple with a 4 year old Mastiff that always stop and play with him when we walk. He and Sally (the mastiff) get along, but he likes to play with the owners more. Maybe it's because Sally drools all over him...

I guess thats about it for now. I'm sending a couple of other pictures of typical Loki poses along as well. Hope all is well.

Brian Blakesley   February 5, 2006

I'm so depressed now. I can't believe that my humans would do something like that to me. What If I needed those some day? I slept all day after the surgery, which is probably good. At least it didn't make my tummy upset. I was able to eat some food and drink a couple hours after I got home from the vet. I really didn't feel like doing a whole lot else that day. I was more or less back to myself the next day, but I'm still mad at my dad people for doing this to me. I keep stealing his socks and dragging them through the rose garden to show him I haven't forgiven him yet. He takes me out for walks and plays in the big green belt behind our house though, so I probably won't stay mad at him for too long. I feel a little different than I did before that fateful day, but I'll adjust.

The Vet Tech weighed me at 85.4 pounds when I went on Thursday to have the stitches removed.(She also told us they joked that it was micro-surgery having him fixed. *chuckle* --Brian) My dad people eyeballed me at about 26" at the shoulder. I can tell I'm getting taller, when I walk under the kitchen table now, my tail drags across the top of it, and if my people are eating, I wind up with a treat on my tail that I scraped off their plate! Yum! I'm having trouble fittng into my favorite hiding spots now, I keep getting stuck trying to get out and my humans have to come rescue me. I've figured out how to get down off the trampoline, but I'm still scared to be up that high and it takes some coaxing (and puppy treats --Brian) to get me to come down if I chase my Kaleb up there while we're playing.

One day a couple of weeks ago I got caught snacking at the table. My mom person wasn't too happy with me. I can't quite nderstand why. All I did was climb up on the table to help clean up the rest of dinner, and she goes all crazy on me and starts hollering about how I'm not supposed to be standing on her good table eating people food. The she threw me out for a while. Between you and me, I think she overreacted to the whole thing, I really was trying to help, and she would have tossed that food out anyway, so it did go to a good cause...

Someone's been following me around the house. Every now and then I'll see his tail or foot out of the corner of my eye. If I whip around fast enough I can get the leg or the tail and then it's on! He'll spin around in circles trying to get away from me, and he grabs my leg or tail in hs mouth and we just spin and spin until one of us lets go, and then he vanishes! I know he was there, because my leg or my tail will be wet and somtimes a little sore, but I can never catch a glmpse of what he really looks like other than his tail looks a lot like mine does, and so does his leg. I know one of these days I'l get him, and then I'll make him stop following me, it's kind of creepy knowing he's there but not being able to catch him.

Well, my dad people's got the hose on out back, and that means it's time for me to go dig up the rose bushes again. Tell my mom I miss her and I'll write soon!

Love,
Loki

(Translated for Loki by Brian, 12/17/05. Above images of random Lokiness.) :)

I think I've lost all of my baby teeth now, the last ones to go were my lower canines. My mom people kind of freaked out when she noticed one day I had two gaping holes where my baby teeth had been, but the new ones were already breaking through so she only freaked out for a minute or so. By the way cutting teeth isn't a whole lot of fun. I don't know about you, but it made my tummy really upset for a couple days each time I got new teeth in. not something I'd recommend doing on a regular basis. (We found one of them but not any of the others --Brian)

I discovered this neat place in the house a couple of weeks ago. It's a room where there's all kinds of water to play in and drink. There's a white bowl with a lid on it thats just the right height for me to get a dink out of it, and then a great big white bowl with a hole in the bottom and this lever thing above it. The big white bowl has more than enough room for me to climb in and relax, and when I play with the lever thing, water comes out! It's the coolest thing ever! My mom people doesn't really like me playing with the water in the big bowl, and she yells at me if I drink the water out of the other bowl. Then she chases me out of the room and shuts the door. (Imagine our surprise when the tub turns on and we're all out in the other room, and walk in to the bathroon to discover a large, wet puppy happily relaxing in the bath tub. --Brian) Then, once I'm all wet, I can run across the tile, and then sit down and slide right out the back door! it's a whole lot of fun and I get to stay cool at the same time!

Not long after that I learned how to bounce on this thing my people call a trampoline. I chased my little people Kaleb up onto it one day by watching him climb up on a chair and then doing whay he did. It's awfully bouncy, but a lot of fun. My only problem is that I have a really hard time getting back down. My people think I'm afraid of heights, whatever that means. I just don't want to get down unless my dad people is there to help me.

2 weeks ago I caught a mouse. He was trying to steal some of my food. I don't mind sharing, but he realy should have asked. My dad people took the mouse away in a bag and then they put out some mouse catchers. I was very curious about them and at fist I kept getting them stuck on my fur (glue board traps and Loki don't work well together --Brian). Now they put the traps in places I'm not always playing in so I don't get them stuck on me. I havne't seen a mouse trying to steal my dinner since, so that little guy must have gone and told his friends to leave my dish alone or I'd get them too!

My friends Puc and Hagrid came to visit last weekend. We're getting along better, but Puc is still really testy with me. I think it's going to take him some time to really get used to me, but Im as big as he is now so he can't really push me around. Hagrid and I are doing ok though, we like to play tag, and fetch.

I guess thats about all I have for now. I'm going to the vet in a few weeks to "get fixed". I don't know what's broken, but every time I go to the vet he makes me feel better so he'll know wnat needs fixing and take care of it.

That's all I've got for now, there are some photos attached as well. Tell my mom I think about her all the time and that I'm doing ok.

Love,

Loki

(Translated for Loki by Brian) November 19, 2005

He's 50 pounds and some change according to the vet scale today. Everything is fine and this was his last visit until his 6 month appointment to be fixed. He's such a crybaby though, I guess he complained when he got his shots, Christy-Ann said he whined and tried hard to look pathetic. :)

We took him up to the mountains last weekend for his first camping trip. He really enjoyed it. We camped by a Lake and he had to go down and jump in every time we got near it. Wound up pretty dirty by the time the weekend was over but he was definitely a happy camper! He probably would have slept outside the tent in the evenings but I was a bit concerned that someone might try and take him or a dog from another camp might wander by in the night so we put him in the tent with us. The trouble was that he wanted to be up at first light, and then he started doing laps around the inside of the tent until someone (that would be me) got up with him to let him out. Believe me, 50 pounds of dirty, long-tongued puppy licking your face and biting your hair at 5 AM is definitely going to get your attention. :) He liked going for walks and exploring out in the woods, though I don't think he quite enjoyed the tummy ache he got from eating the pine cones, needles, and bark the first day... He loved the girl scout troop that we met while hiking by a lava tube though, the all had to stop and pet him and tell us what a pretty dog he is. He definitely loves being the center of attention.

I've attached some photos from the camping trip, and one from when we got home and I left the hose runnign out back. He really likes to dig in the mud, thats all I'm going to say. :)

Brian Blakesley   September 30, 2005

Hello! Greetings from not so hot Arizona! The weather here has finally started to cool off and none too soon if you ask me! I've been pretty busy the past few weeks so I haven't had a lot of time to sit and write a letter. I know my dad people sent one a couple weeks ago and sort of filled you in, so I'll pick up from there...

First off, when I went to see Doc Cromer a couple weeks ago, he told my people about some person called a pet trainer and gave them his number. It didn't mean anything to me so I just concentrated on trying to eat the metal and plastic tube he had looped around his neck and stuck in his ears. He gave me some more shots and a couple of rawhide puppy treats. Those were nice because my teeth are coming in and I've been chewing on lots of things because it makes my mouth feel better.

Anyway, later on that week, this other man came to our house to visit. His name is Gary Wilkes and he came to see me! I was very excited and I started nibbling on his hand, and he said "no!" and then he bopped me on the head with a rolled up dish towel! I was astonished. I thought maybe it was an accident, so I went back over and started biting him again to get him to play, and he said "no!" and bopped me again! I decided that he must not like me biting him, so instead I went over and licked his hand, and he gave me a puppy treat! woo! I've been learning all kinds of new tricks since then, inclding sit, and lay down, and "dont' go near the front door", and whenever I do somehting right, my people give me treats! I've gotten bopped a couple of times too but I've learned that if I stop doing whatever it is that I got bopped for, I don't get bopped anymore. My people have been so happy, especially now that I don't bite anyone any more. We have 5 more sessions to go, and I'll be learning all kinds of neat tricks to make my people happy! I can't wait!

I made my First long car trip this past weekend. My people took me to see some other people, at my friends Puc and Hagrid's house. We had a great time playing tag in the bushes, chasing squirrels, going for walks in the evenings, and playing in the pool! I wasn't too sure about that right at first, but once I got in I had a good time. I fell in a couple times too but it wasn't a big deal, the water felt good and I knew where the steps were on both sides if I wanted to get out. One of the people who lived there had this neat water toy that he threw out and Puc and I took turns bringig it back to him. I wasn't really inerested in bringing it back, but thats what Puc said to do so I did. I guess when in Rome...

My dad people put me on the scale a few days ago. I weigh 46 pounds (as of 9/15, so about 13-14 weeks --Brian)and I'm about 18" tall or so. Tell my mom I'm growing up strong and having a lot of fun! I'll write later, but thats about all I have for now!

Loki

--Translated for Loki by Brian 9/19/05

Gary Wilkes does clicker training, http://www.clickandtreat.com has his info and bio on it. The towel thing in no way hurt Loki at all, but it certainly got his attention. He was literally not biting within 15 minutes of Gary arriving for our first session, I am absolutely amazed at the difference in behavior between what we had before and what we have now. We were a little worried about the towel bopping thing at first, but not after Gary showed us what it was all about. We've recommended him to several of our friends who got puppies about the same time we did. I've sent along 5 photos taken between 9/14 and 9/17. It seems like he changes almost daily at this stage, both in size and appearance. I'm really curious to see what he's going to look like when he's done growing and had a couple sheds. His mane (for lack of a better term) has started to come in around his neck and now he's really starting to look lke what I pictured a malamute as being. I can't wait to see the finished product :) He truly is a great puppy though and now that he's settled down a bit he's become an even better addition to our family.

We're going to go camping this weekend (finally!) so I'll send some pics of loki in the great outdoors when we get back.

Brian September 19, 2005

No update from Loki this week, he's been a bit too busy to sit down with me and write a letter.

He's up to 40 pounds and about 15" at the shoulder this week, and growing like a weed. Every day his color darkens a bit, pretty much all that's left of his red is his head. We've been joking about him looking like a Coyote, but thats where his coloration's at right now. I think he's going to end up sort of mohogany colored, or maybe salt and pepper, but he'll definitely be unique with those red ears. :) I've included a couple new pics, one that really shows his color and one of him in his new favorite place to hide, under the dishwasher door.

We're still working on the biting, he does a little beter every day. I think we're in for a long road on that, but we'll get there. We've got him signed up for obedience training the first part of October, and we'll see how he does after that. He's definitely got a very independent personality, he fits right in around here. We've still got him sleeping in a crate at night because he chews on things otherwise, but we're working on finishing up his housebreaking and getting him to the point where he'll sleep through the night without getting into troube. Both of the boys want him to sleep in their rooms, but I have the feeling hes already staked out a spot under our bed :)

He's tall enough now to get up on the furniture, the dining room table, and the kitchen counters. nothing is safe anymore :) Fortunately we dn't generally keep snacks out so we haven't lost anything to him yet except half of a donut this morning. He knows where his puppy treats are in the pantry and he'll go sit in front of the door and bark if he thinks it's time for a snack. His one real weakness seems to be ice cream. We get him some doggie ice cream on occasion, and he thinks that means he's entitled to people ice cream too. Of course, no one wants to share their ice cream so he doesn't get a whole lot. :)

I guess thats about all for this time around, so I'll close now. We'll send some more photos next time, maybe we'll go out camping before then and see how he does out in the woods.

Thanks!
Brian Blakesley   September 07, 2005

It's been about a week now that I've been here in Arizona with my new family. What a week it's been too! I've learned a lot of new things, and I'm adjusting to life out here. It's still very hot though. I'm still trying to adjust to that. It's the worst during the afternoon. My people will take me out in the yard to potty, but it's just so darn hot I don't want anything to do with it. I've been going potty in the house and they're really not happy with me about that. Mornings and evenings are ok, they'll leave the back door open for me and I can run in and out when I feel like it. They have lots of neat things in the yard for me to play with, and my smaller boy likes to go exploring with me in the tall grass. We've discovered ants, crickets, roly poly bugs, and even a couple large lizards living under the boganvillea out by the back fence. My people don't like it when I chew on the rose bushes though, but after I bit a down on athorn on one the other day I think I understand why now... they also have this thing called the monsoon here. It's when the sky gets really dark in the daytime and it starts getting really windy. Sometimes it rains, but most of the time all it does is thunder and blow. The one night it did rain I went out and played in it and tried to catch raindrops. It was a lot of fun. We went over to the park after that and I dug holes in the sand pit with my boy people. I tasted some of the sand, but it wasn't very good.

I'm getting used to sleeping in my crate at night. The first couple of nights I howled and howled, but I've learned that my people will come down and let me out to go potty if I need to during the night so it's not so bad. I haven't cried the last few nights when they go to bed, and I'm sleeping better. I have a couple of soft toys that I take to bed with me at night, so if I get up and want to play I can chew on them. I also have a water bottle that I can lick to get a drink if I get thirsty. When I figured out to make it work I drank almost the whole bottle! I wound up having to go out a lot that night though, so I don't drink as much now unless I'm really thirsty.

I went and met my new vet, Dr Cromer this week too. He has a mal mix puppy at home and is pretty nice He played with me for a few minutes and I didn't even bite him. He showed my people how to handle me to let me know thet they were in charge. I was sort of upset about that but now that I know I don't have to be in charge I can relax a bit more and concentrate on being a puppy and having fun. I was 21 pounds when I went in to meet him on Wednesday. My tummy was a little upset so he gave me some meds to make it feel better and had my people change my food to a canned puppy food (Science Diet chicken puppy food). I've been doing better since then.

I discovered that my Dad people makes really good smelling things in the kitchen. Every night I sit patiently at his feet while he makes "dinner" (thats what my people call it), and wait for mine. He won't give me any people food though, he just laughs and pats me on the head or scratches behind my ears (I really like that). I even try and get up to one of the chairs at the table and sit with them, but they won't let me. I guess I'll have to just wait and see if they give me some when I grow up a bit. (Not likely! --Brian) They have this neat thing in the kitchen called a "refrigerator". It's full of people food, and it's cold too! Every time they open the thing I try and climb in and sit down. My people try and chase me out, but I'm seaky and I manage to get in to the fridge almost every time.

I'm learning how to climb stairs too. Going up is no problem, but I'm still a little uncomfortable coming back down. My people have to help me come down the stairs still so I don't lose my balance and roll down. The fuzzy dog at the top of the stairs doesn't like me too much, when she goes outside she barks and snarls at me. I don't know what her problem is, all I wanna do is play! Why do some dogs have to be like that? I'm bigger than she is already, so she'd better look out!

My boy people are a lot of fun to play with, They both play tug-o-war with me, and we're learning to pay fetch. I get really wound up and start biting, and they get a little upset about that. We're working on it. My smaller boy, Kaleb and I run through the house and play tag. He'll run and I'll grab hold of his shorts and try and slow him down. He drags me around and we have great fun. Mom and Dad people don't like it so much when I sneak up behind them and nip at their heels or legs though. I've gotten time out's for that this week. I also got sprayed with the sink sprayer for climbing up on the dishwasher and trying to steal a wooden spoon. I normally don't mind water a whole lot, but getting sprayed with a shot of cold water at close range is definitely not fun. I don't think I'll try stealing spoons out of the dishwasher for a few more days at least.

I guess thats about it. My people said they'd send some photos later this week. Let my mom know that I am doing well and my people really are doing their best to keep me happy. I miss you all!

Love,
Loki

(Translated for Loki by Brian) August 06, 2005

Hello! I wanted to send a letter home to my mom Kayobi and let her know that I made it to Arizona safe and sound. Since she has trouble reading, I was hoping I could write to you and you could tell her for me.

The trip out was interesting. I've never been on a plane before, but the people at the airports were nice and looked after me and Niko (Thats my brother's name) until Niko's new mom came to get us. There was another really big puppy in the cargo hangar in New Mexico, all the airport people were sort of scared of him. When Niko's new mom got there and we were able to get out, we were very excited! We ran and tumbeld and played and had a lot of fun. Then we slept.

The next day Niko's mom put us back in the crate. I didn't like that too much so I kept banging against it trying to get out, but I couldn't get the door opened fast enough and she caught me. We Drove allllll day and finally made it to Niko's new house and his mom called my new family. They were there in no time flat to pick me up. I played a little while with niko and then it was time to go. I wasn't too sure about leaving Niko, but I think I'll see him again pretty soon so it will be ok. We drove for a little while and then I was mt my new home! It's very exciting. There's another dog that lives upstairs. She's srot fo grumpy but She keeps looking at me like she's trying to decide what to make of me. I think we'll get along ok though. I'm already bigger than her and if she gets too rowdy I'll just kick her butt.

Arizona's Hot! Man! I didn't know places could get this hot. I don't like going outside in the daytime, but my new owner tries to help. He goes out and turns the garden hose on to soak the yard so it's cooler and I don't burn my feet when I have to go. After the sun goes down it's not so bad, I've been exploring the house and the yard, and I've found where the coolest places are on the tile so I can flop down and sprawl out to keep cool when it's warm out.

My new family seems to be pretty neat. The mom is nice to me and she smells good. She plays with me and doesn't get too upset if I have an accident in the house. She makes me sleep in a crate at night though, and I don't realy like that. I yell and complain and even howl, but they don't let me out. I guess I'll get used to it. My new dad is pretty nice too. He's got really long hair and I like to sneak up behind him and grab some in my mouth and run away. He plays rough with me, and I like that. He lets me know if I get too rough though and he'll get up and stop playing with me if I get too rough. They have 2 boys too. One's not a lot bigger than me and he and I play chase a lot. He makes almost as much noise as I do, and we have been sitting on the floor howling together. It's a lot of fun. The bigger boy hasn't quite taken to me yet. I can tell he really likes me a lot, but he won't play with me and he tries to act all cool when people are around. It's ok though, I can tell he's a god boy and we'll get along fine. They got me plenty of chewy toys and squeaky toys, and I have my choice of puppy beds! I do miss my mom and brothers and sisters, especially at night, but I think I like living here and I'll do just fine.

I sent along some pictures that my new family took of me in the last couple of days. Tell my mom I miss her, but that I'll be just fine on my own.

Loki.

--Translated for Loki by Brian

Thanks so much for sending us such a wounderful boy! It's been a long time since we've had a puppy in the house and we're all learning, but he's filled an empty space in the family that none of us really wanted to admit was there. We'll send more photos along as he grows up, and I'm sure Christy-Ann will keep you up to date. :)

Thanks again!
Brian Blakesley   July 30, 2005