Happy Howlidays!!!

Falkor had a wonderful first Christmas! He got a new royal blue collar, a squeaky rubber chicken toy, a bag of his favorite treats, and a big ol' raw knuckle bone. He was a very happy boy. :)

Falkor the "other" reindeer!

We had our first official snow here in Iowa even though it's been beyond freezing the past week. Falkor thought snowflakes were FUN and ran around trying to catch them in his mouth. He also does this with leaves. :) I was trying to get a good pic of him in some reindeer antlers for our Christmas cards but he wasn't much interested in posing.

Falkor got his CGC!!!

This morning Falkor and I took the test for CGC/TDI certification and Falkor did AWESOME! I am SUCH a proud dog Mom. We did the combo test even though Falkor can certify for TDI until he's a year because they were doing the tests together and I thought it would be a good experience anyway. I wasn't sure he'd be able to resist the portion of the test with the food on the floor...to say that Falkor is food motivated is quite an understatement. :) But he had no problem at all. Falkor was the youngest of 30 dogs they tested this morning and the evaluators were very impressed at how well he did for his tender age. Many people commented on his wonderful temperament. One of the evaluators threatened to pup nap him and take him home. :)

I think this accomplishment says alot about Falkor's breeding and where he came from. I feel so very blessed to share our home and hearts with such a great pup!

Finally a couple of nice shots!

The fall leaves made a nice backdrop for my caramel colored guy. :)

My impossible to photograph puppy

It is getting SOOO hard to get any good photos of Falkor. He is either a blurry blob or only a puppy body part is in the picture. Here are a couple of pics that turned out decent.

Falkor at the West Glen Neewollah celebration today.

After zoomie rest.

Where did my little puppy go??

I realize that little is relative when talking about a Dane but Falkor is growing up SO fast. He is 80 pounds now at 5 months and is getting all his big boy teeth. We found a couple of molars on the floor this weekend.

He continues to be a total blast and makes instant friends every place we go. He has such an inspiring desire to learn and I love working with him.

We went to the Great Iowa Pet Expo over the weekend and Falkor was such a doll. He was completely comfortable with the crowds, all the dogs, the noise, and even a donkey and mini horse there were walking around in the building. We met a few Danes and saw his best buddy Layla (a brindle girl almost the same age). He soaked up all the attention and was sweet and gentle with every person he met. Whenever someone wants to pet him he will sit right in front of them and just stare up at them with those big brown doe eyes. Such a love!

I need to get some new pics!

Hard Day's Nite

I found Falkor sleeping like this last night. How cute is it that he fell asleep with that giant ear over his eyes. What a perfect built in sleep mask.

Whatta Face!

Falkor is such a happy boy! Anytime you look him in the face he give you this big ol soft smile. Just melts my heart. :)

Falkor down on the farm

I took the boys to a learning farm in Michigan that is a part of their Metropark system. You are allowed to bring your dogs as long as they are leashed. I was very interested to see what Falkor would think of farm animals. I was quite surprised because the animals, especially the cows and horses, LOOOOVED Falkor. They nearly completely ignored Jackson and me, but totally wanted to check Falkor out. Falkor wasn't sure at first but after he got to do some nose sniffs he was loving it.

Home Sweet Home

We made the long drive back to Iowa from Michigan on Friday and made it back safe and sound. Both Jackson and Falkor were beyond wonderful again during the drive. I was seriously blown away about how well they both did.

If Falkor could talk I'm sure he would say that Michigan was BIG fun. We visited the local off leash dog park every morning and he made some doggy friends that he loved to wrestle around with. He best dog park friend was a little lab mix that was the same age as Falkor but only weighed 15 lbs. They had the exact same play style and would literally jump for joy when they would see each other. It was so cute to watch.

We visited an amazing park that had a HUGE fountain in the middle with a small waterfall and lots of fountains. Before I could even blink Falkor LEAPT in the water and started zooming around. He totally love it. I snapped a few pics of my water loving pup.

Falkor's Michigan Adventure!

As completely insane as it may seem, last Thursday we packed up our minivan and drove 12 hours from Iowa to Michigan with my Mom, my 2.5 year son, and Falkor. I was astonished at how well both boys did. Falkor slept nearly the entire time in his crate and never made a peep.

We are having a wonderful time here and Falkor is totally loving Camp Grammy's House. We've been swimming, another water loving Dragon here, to the various dog parks, to a Learning Farm "Ohh look Mom COWS...FUN!", and meeting loads of new people and animals alike. I have been taking lots of pics but I can't upload them here so it will have to wait until we get home next week.

Falkor's energy switch definately got flipped this week as well. My once quiet, calm pup is now a whirling dervish. It's a good thing he's so cute. ;)

Ohhh Those Wrinkles!!!

Falkor has these completely adorable wrinkles on his forehead when he's looking down and I cannot stand the cuteness. I snapped a few pics that really showcase the wrinkles. His head is also wet in these pics because he kept putting his head in the water dish while I was trying to fill it.
I forgot to write on the blog that I weighed Falkor on his 3 month birthday on the 19th and he was 47.5lbs! My big baby boy.

Yeah That's Relaxed

Falkor had a fun filled playdate with his Field Spaniel buddy, Phaser, that wore them both out. Ahhhh a sleepy puppy is so wonderful. I walked into the family room and found Falkor asleep in this position. He only woke up when he heard the camera click. It's a ruff life.

Falkor's Famous at the Farmer's Market

Today was a completely beautiful day outside so I decided to take Jackson and Falkor to the downtown farmer's market. The Des Moines farmer's market is HUGE and welcomes very large crowds every weekend.
It was Falkor's first time and Jackson hadn't been there since last summer. Where we had to park there was a very loud band playing and the streets were teeming with people....both Jackson and Falkor were a bit wide eyed at first. But after only a few minutes both were taking in the sights, smells and sounds with big smiles. Falkor was wagging his tail the entire time and just LOVED all the attention he got from people and other doggies.
Falkor was quite popular with the crowd and about 1 million people exclaimed, "Look at those huge feet!". In fact ,word of Falkor spread through the market and when we would meet new people many would say "That is the puppy we heard about!". Falkor made his mark at the Des Moines Farmer's Market and thoroughly enjoyed all the attention, new doggie friends, and even a few pieces of fresh watermelon.

EXTREME Close-Up

Ummm lets just say that Falkor LOOOOVES the tunnel. I hauled out my regulation tunnel the other day and Falkor has been having a blast. Let me also add that it is VERY hard to send him through the tunnel and try to snap a pic as he comes out the other side. The pics show the results of many attempts. Too bad you can't see the nose print on my camera lens. ;)

My SUPER Saturday Adventure....by Falkor

I had the very best day ever yesterday! I got to go on long car ride with my Mom to meet up with my first Mom, Jennifer B, and two of my brothers. When we first got there it took me just a minute to recognize Jennifer and my brothers and then I was in doggy heaven. I got so many snuggles and kisses from Jennifer and I played, and played and played some more with my brothers Ryu Jr. and Poet. I also got to meet some very friendly Dane people and their amazing Danes, a Mastiff and a teeny tiny Yorkie.

Now if that wasn't amazing enough we also got to visit a real dog show site for a few mintues and see some real show dogs! Everyone was so proud about how well my brothers and I did since it was a very new thing for us. After the show we went for some walks at this very fun campsite, played some more and even got to see a campfire!

It was a pretty big adventure for a Dane pup and my Mom keeping saying how nice it is that I am still so sleepy today.

Here is a picture of me and Poet wrestling. SO fun!

Total Water Dog

Falkor LOOOOOVES the water! I cannot even turn the hose on within him running over and full speed to jump into the spray. He also loves Jackson's kiddie pool. Maybe we'll have to look into doing some dock diving with him when he gets older. :)

Helping Out

Jackson and Falkor are best buddies. But it is SO hard for me to get a photo of them together. They are both like missiles shooting off in different directions. I managed to snap this pic of them "helping" each other dig in the tiny dirt patch in our yard. I worry that the tiny dirt patch may not remain tiny for long. :)

He's my big brudder

Falkor has a bit of hero worship going on with Finnegan. He follows him allll around and always wants to be right by him. Finnegan has mixed feeling so far mostly because Falkor also likes to try to bite his sensitive parts. Eeks! Falkor got peed on for the first time today when we walked under Finnegan while he was going potty. He was completely oblivious! LOL I snapped a few pics of the boys hanging together on the deck.

Falkor is home!!

What a whirlwind it has been! Mark and I drove up to MN on Friday and went to Jennifer's house on Saturday morning. I was beyond exited and couldn't sleep on Friday night. I was really looking forward to Mark meeting Jennifer, the BIG Danes and the babies of course. I could not believe how much they had grown in just too weeks!!

We spent a few hours covered in Dane pups and had a wonderful visit. Jennifer has done a remarkable job with these pups and honestly Falkor is more than I could have hoped for. He is a complete sweetheart....his tail NEVER stops wagging. What a stable pup too...explores everything with curiosity and a wagging tail. He is already sleeping through the night and has not had a single potty accident in the house.

Jackson and Falkor just LOOOVE each other. It is so heartwarming. Jackson loves to show Falkor his toys and he talks to him all the time. Here are a few pics from our visit at Jennifers and from Falkor's first couple of days here.

Our budding agility pup

Thank goodness Auntie Shannon was more on top of things during our puppy visit and took loads of wonderful photos for me. She is going to get them onto a CD for me but sent me a few via email. Look at how freaking cute Falcor looks trotting across the dog walk!! And I love the shot of him running in the yard. Great pics Shannon!

Puppy Breath!!!!

We got back from our visit with the Dane pups late last night and had such an amazing time. It was total puppy heaven. I was so excited to finally meet Jennifer (the breeder) in person and of course meet all the puppers. Jennifer is great...I feel so lucky to welcoming one of her puppies into our home and hearts.

We got to spend time with Amour (the Momma), Ryu (the Pappa), Ladybug( Ryu's sister) and all the babies. Amour, Ryu and Bug were gorgeous and so sweet. I was in heaven getting Dane nuzzles, Dane leans, and having Dane's sitting on my lap. It brought back so many fond memories.

Ohhh the puppies...All of the pups were stunningly beautiful and the puppy kisses and puppy breath were mesmerizing. :) Jennifer showed me which puppy she thought would be a good fit for our family and I felt like we had an immediate connection. He looked me right in the eyes and I just fell in love. He even took a nap fast asleep on my belly. Sooo sweet.

Jennifer has puppy agility equipment set up in her back yard and our lil guy was a rock star going over the puppy dogwalk, teeter and tunnel. It was SO cute.

Our baby will be coming home in a few weeks and I know I'll be counting down the days!

3 More Sleeps!!

I can't even find words to describe my excitement! I'll be walking around the house and randomly picture Falkor walking around the house. Even though I don't know which puppy will be joining our family I feel like he's here in spirit already. I know our life will be turned upside down by Falkor's puppy antics but I simply can't wait!

I keep telling anyone that will listen about your new puppy and I cannot wait to meet him. Our visit is only 3 days away!

SO very excited!!!

Yes I am indeed crazy...we are adding another furbaby to our family. This addition is truly one in a million and I feel so very fortunate to adding him to our family. He is a dream pup and cannot wait to smell the puppy breath.

Even though we don't know exactly which pup will be ours, because the breeder is helping us choose based on what we want/need in a pup, he already has a name. :) His name will be CHROMA CLWKS The NeverNding Story - call name Falkor! The Neverending Story is one of my favorite childhood movies and I adored Falkor. The theme for the litter is dragons so it was perfect the use the name of a Luck Dragon for our puppy.

Here is a few pics of the litter. We think we'll be getting of the fawntle (fawn mantle) boys. We are going to visit this weekend and we should know more after that visit. I am so excited! Only 5 more sleeps!!!!