Snuggle puppy

At Border's looking for a Christmas present for Jeff's nephews, we came across a children's book called Snuggle Puppy... now my pet name for Wason. He really does spend a large majority of the time cuddling and snuggling with us, which I LOVE.

Raking leaves

We spent an entire Saturday raking piles and piles of leaves in the backyard. Wason "helped" by chasing the rake and running through our piles. Finally he wore himself out and took a nap, letting us finish up =)

Happy New Year's!

We spent New Year's Eve at Chris and July's house, and they graciously allowed us to bring the puppy. As a good behavior bribe, I purchased a smoked cow bone of some sort that the guy at the pet store guaranteed would keep him occupied for several hours. Sure enough, Wason was thrilled with his new toy and did not embarass us with any crazy puppy behavior. It was way past his bedtime when he decided to comandeer the little cat bed for a cat nap. Too small for you buddy!

Meeting Walter

My parents have a Springer Spaniel named Walter. Wason had the time of his life chasing Walter around and nipping at his ears. These pictures were taken when Walter was still bigger...no longer the case.

Fetch!

We learned fetch with a little orange bumper. The bumpers are supposed to keep the dog's mouth soft, so that when he retrieves birds he doesn't clamp down too hard. Fetch came pretty naturally to our little labrador retriever, it wasn't too long before he retrieved the bumper with vigor (as Jeff likes to say).

Stair master

The stairs were quite an obstacle at first, we had to carry him up and down for the first few weeks. A little extra height and encouragement (and some treats) and Wason finally figured it out. Pictures of him taking a break halfway down.

Bird dog...

Jeff took Wason on his very first hunting trip over the holidays. They went quail and pheasant hunting in Claude (Jeff's hometown). Wason ran and ran, through brush and under barbed wire fences, keeping up with the big dogs. He is most assuredly not gun shy - he had a blast! Jeff worked with him after the hunt was over by playing fetch with the dead birds...eww.

Homecoming!

I flew home from New York early Sunday morning (November 3). Jeff picked me up at the airport and we went straight to Burleson to pick Wason up. He was the second to last puppy to be picked up by his new owners. He sat in my lap and cried the whole way home...it was so sad! He slept for most of the day, but we got up with him about 5 times during the night. The next day, we took Wason to the vet for his first check-up. At 8 weeks old, he weighed 15 lbs. He was so little and cuddly!

Saddle Hills Labradors

Jeff and I had decided that we were going to get one of the puppies from a litter born on September 11, 2007 at Saddle Hills Labradors in Burleson. We had already chosen a name and everything - Wason, after the ranch in Creede, CO where we met. When they were 6 weeks old, we got to choose which one we would be taking home in two weeks. Wason really chose us, he was the only one that would come when we called him. He was the biggest of ten puppies, all boys!