The Landacre Crew spent the day lounging around and recovering from all of our end-of-year festivities!  Rugby, just short of his third birthday (March 13) is just stunning in too much coat.  Rush was just adorable lounging with her gingerbread on the corner pouf.  The pups, tired of all the merrymaking and rabble rousing, took a snooze on the kitchen floor while I cooked an early dinner.  Truly, there is nothing better than this!  Shenandoah was with us also, but is still suffering from “mommy syndrome”, meaning she is looking far from her best.  She asks that her picture not be posted until she has had a spa day.

As is usual with my family and the holidays, it was rush, rush, rush from one activity to another.  However, Andy’s two younger children, Adam and Ally, were constant helpers with the puppies.  The young ones (two and four legged) romped in the warm weather up and down Forest Drive.  They visited neighbors and Indigo helped us to “puppy proof” the dog run!  I wish I had these two helpers around here, as so much was accomplished with the extra hands there.  They are expert dog trainers in their own right, and I enjoy working with them.  If they lived nearby, they would be junior handling, I bet!

I had to have the father/son picture with similar Christmas toys.  Both of the boys enjoy gingerbread!

At 18 weeks, Indigo remains stunning!  She has held together beautifully.  I tell Peggy that she let me have the prettiest puppy in her litter!  As you can see, her face is captivating, and her movement is flawless.  I am told that she is a bit long in body, but you can see that she is able to work.  We are looking forward to learning the rules for a flushing spaniel!  While she was very bossy toward the Cocoa Puffs when they were little, they have surpassed her in size, and she has learned the art of humility.  Training an ECS is different from an IWS, that’s for sure!

Kramer is the little boy lobbying to stay.  He is Rugby and Shenan’s favorite.  Who wouldn’t love him?  He’s as sweet as pie.  A very laid back boy, nothing really bothers him.  He is such a love.  And, along came Paul Taylor from Florida who seems to be just the right person to share Kramer!  Paul named his boy, who will be going to live with him after a trip out of the country.  Until then, we get to enjoy his company a while longer.  I have already warned Paul that I will cry when they go, and he seems well prepared.  I am looking very much forward to this new friendship that Kramer has brought.

I am very behind in posting pictures.  Here are some of Blossom taken at 3 months of age.  We shot them the Sunday before Christmas.  The stacked picture was taken hurriedly, but gives general outline.  Blossom is as sweet as ever, and ornery.  She is just the kind of puppy that I enjoy.  She, along with Indigo and Kramer, are keeping me on my toes!  Each of the others will have a separate blog entry.

The weather is seasonal and puppies are definitely individuals now.  Gone are the days of group pictures.  We tried peanut butter on the inside of the box to help them stay, but were never able to keep all of them still at once.  After 4 hours (off and on as we needed both hot chocolate and dinner) and over 400 pictures, Teal’s repose says it all.  Since everyone will be here for the next 10 days or so, maybe we will try again.  I have some good individual ones, and will attempt to post them later.

Sunday’s weather was not the best for picture taking.  Also the age of the Cocoa Puffs does not lend itself to sitting still for shots.  There were no stacked shots to be had.  It had been a very busy week, beginning with a trip to Resnik Elementary school on Friday for all of the pups, to Marilyn Cantrell’s on Saturday and visitors on Sunday.  There is no furniture left in the living room, as it is officially named “The Romper Room”.  Donna Cleverdon’s poodle puppy Zephyr has joined us for a few days while she is out of town.  Next week, we hope to get the last of the group shots.  It will be a Christmas shot for this year’s card.  Kellie and Steve will be coming soon afterward to take Meadow, whose name is Bob, home with them.  The others will be here a bit longer.  I’m not really ready for them to go yet!

Here is the group shot taken on Saturday, November 1.  It took 6 humans to get this shot!  The pups are now 7 weeks old!