We are ready!!! Welcome "LEXI" !!!

 "LEXI:

(Quillquest: "Princess Aurora")

Photographs of "Princess Aurora" per kind favour of Marycke Ackhurst of

QUILLQUEST GOLDEN RETRIEVERS

---xXx---

In  just over 24 hours we will be travelling to the airport in great anticipation of the arrival of our new pup

"LEXI".

Lexi was born on the 1st December 2013 - one in a litter of seven puppies - bred by Marycke Ackhurst, and is now eight weeks old.

She will be flying "Kulula Airlines" and we will welcome her at Lanseria airport at 14h10 tomorrow afternoon.

Lorraine (my dear friend) and 'The Boss' will also be at the airport - to welcome, to help and  (hopefully) to take many photographs.

In the meantime, we have been preparing...

Getting ready for an active and happy little Golden bundle is no easy feat.  

Take a look:...

MY GOLDEN PUPPY PREPARATION INCLUDES:

 1. 3x bouncy balls

2. 2x slicker brushes

3. 1x ordinary brush

4. Rake

5. Mars Coat King 

6. double-sided comb

7. Zoom groom

8. Nail clipper

9. Thinning scissors

10. sharp scissors

11. Pretty collar and pretty lead

12. Longer lead : 1.8m

13. Puppy poo packets - for those inevitable accidents

14. Kong toys (Bubbas) and chew toy

15. Kong puppy chew

16. Doggie shampoo

17. Pheromone spray (Adaptil - for calming/comforting)

18. Various carpet shampoo's and cleaning materials,

19.  Puppy bowls

20.  Puppy food

21. Chewies and toothbrushes

22.  A pretty pink crate

23.  Willing playmates

24.  A swimming pool

25.  Lots of gardening space for practising Golden landscaping skills

26. PUPPY SOCIALISATION CLASSES Booked!

and, most of all...

27. A welcoming, loving and happy home

What have I left out?

Above: "ADAPTIL" Pheromone spray (which I will be taking with me to the airport).

This particular product, although very expensive, is highly recommended to calm and comfort dogs in stressful situations.

LEXI will be fed on HILLS PET NUTRITION: Puppy

Last night, we received such pretty puppy pictures.  Little Lexi will soon be saying "Goodbye" to her siblings, her Mommy 'Emmi' and the puppies' breeders Marycke and Wayne Ackhurst.  I know Marycke's heart is heavy with the prospect of saying "Goodbye", but she can be reassured that this particular puppy is flying towards a life of Golden luxury. 

Last night, the puppies spent time playing with their new, 'go home' toys.

Apparently it was a Golden frenzy of fun and delight. Lexi joined in the fun...

 The pack here at home is also ready...

Travel well, little Princess!

Many, many thanks Marycke for your love and care of these precious little ones. 

You deserve a medal for your compassion, care, professionalism, knowledge, advice, focus, determination and commitment towards the welfare of Golden Retrievers in general.

I (and the Goldens) am very, very grateful! Thank you!

With love

"ONCE UPON A DREAM" ...Our pup has been chosen!

GREETINGS FROM SOUTH AFRICA

 It is with great excitement that I can finally announce that our puppy has been chosen:

 ---xXx---

"ONCE UPON A DREAM":

Like the Disney character, "Aurora", this little pup is living up to her kennel name:

A quiet, gentle little puppy; a sleeping beauty; a little puppy who will blossom into a beautiful princess, who will be surrounded by love in her new family; who is precious to her carers and who is incredibly attractive too...

---xXx---

Before anything else, this is my short note to 

Marycke Ackhurst at QUILLQUEST GOLDEN RETRIEVERS:

Dear Marycke, we look forward to welcoming our special little girl into our household on Friday. It must be a bitter-sweet moment for you to finally let your beautiful puppies go: Thank you for entrusting me with my particular, precious puppy. She will be loved, adored and encouraged to thrive in our home. Toby and Tammy look forward to Friday too...not to mention ME! You have done everything humanly possible to ensure the well-being of these beautiful pups. I appreciate the endless phone-calls and the careful decision making, encouragement and advice throughout this process. As a breeder, you should be commended: "THE QUEST TO BE THE BEST..." has been perfectly demonstrated in my experience over the past 7 weeks. THANK YOU to you, to Wayne, to your daughter...and everyone involved at QUILLQUEST GOLDEN RETRIEVERS! With love, Caryl 

During the pups' behavioural assessment yesterday, my little puppy was described as:

"Soft and demure; quick to bond..."

I have watched this little pup grow over the past nearly 8 weeks.  Although I've not had the privilege of meeting the little one in person (I am in Johannesburg and the pups are in Cape Town) a lot can be said by studying the many, beautiful photographs which have been taken by Marycke.  These are some of the photographs which have recorded her development over the past 7 weeks:

 "Aurora" with Mommy "Emmi"

Dear little puppy: 

QUILLQUEST: "PRINCESS AURORA",

We look forward to welcoming you into our household on Friday. It's been a long wait, but we know that you have chosen well in selecting us as your 'Forever home'. When you finally get here, we will choose a call-name that will fit your beautiful, sweet nature. We will introduce you to a whole new world of opportunity and fun, and we will love and nurture you in a manner befitting to a princess.

We pray that your flight will be easy and that you will arrive home safely. We will be waiting, anxiously, at Lanzeria Airport, on Friday afternoon at 2pm, for your arrival.
We love you, sweet little one. 

Welcome home, little princess! 

With love

There's nothing like a romp in the park! ...

GREETINGS FROM JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA!

Hello there to all my friends around the globe!

Please note that this is a LONG post, with many photographs!!!

  I am posting these photos for the benefit of the friends who joined me in the park yesterday.

Thank you for your patience... please enjoy them... :)

(TOBY: The joy of a romp in the park)

After a sweltering week,  we welcomed in cooler, rainy weather on Friday.  The heavens opened and it showered buckets! We held our breath to see if we would, indeed, have a window of  "walking" opportunity on Saturday.  As if by magic, the rain eased up for a few hours.  We seized the moment.

Let's allow the pictures tell most of the story...

 Above: Toby knows that a car-ride means FUN!!!

The doggie-park is about 5 minutes from our house.

 On arrival, the boot is opened to reveal two excited Goldens.  We take a moment to 'try' and calm them down before they are allowed to exit the boot of our vehicle.  It's a difficult job.  Today, I handed the responsibility over to Robz...so that I could take photos...

She's a great vet student and dog-trainer.

 Above: Good manners must be entrenched: Wait! Behave, and only then we'll let you run free.

Although the grass is long, the park is really beautiful at the moment

 Some residents have taken great care to ensure that the birds are also considered. 

Thank you to all those who work so hard to keep it clean and to make this place so wonderful for our community and its dogs  ...

 Although Aunt Tam' is getting old now (12 years), she visibly comes to life in the park.  Somehow her 'arthritis' disappears during these visits.  She is still such a pretty, quiet and gentle soul and loves to meet new friends...

"Hello there, you're new?  I'll say hello first while Toby is distracted."

 A sniff here; a "point" there:

a dart to the bush; a backward stare...

 When Toby's on a running role, there's nothing stopping him!  His internal braking system seems to fail him.

I love the above picture.  If you look carefully, you'll notice the signs of his conflicting intentions - the front half of his body is trying to 'stop' while the back part is still in full gallop. LOL!

 Above: TAMMY - not bad for a 12-year-old.

(She's momentarily cured of any latent arthritis)

Above:  

A beautiful, cherished photo of my other daughter, Miss J.  

Tammy has always been Miss J's dog.  She trained her, nurtured her  and spent hours grooming her during her developmental years.  The long-standing bond between them is palpable - even though Miss J is absent most of the time. The demands and unimaginable working hours required of a young doctor mean that time shared together is extremely limited.  Time with TAMMY is therefore super-special!

 Above: Tammy and Toby wait patiently for their special friends to arrive...

Then suddenly the celebrations commence.

Below: 

Abbey and Hoby arrive for the joyous reunion...

 "Hello, hello, hello!..."

 Below: Other friends arrive. Little Abbey (young, guide-dog in training) shows submission to Jonty.

 Once the preliminaries are complete, it turns into a canine whirlpool of activity.

 This is the time for Aunt Tam to settle down and survey the action ...

  Below: Hoby, Duke and Abbey... full steam ahead!

Now for some special pics' I promised to post for our new park-buddies...

 Above and below: Isobel and Jonty.

 Below: Darryl practicing Hoby's recall, with Portia observing the action...

 Below: Portia comes running back to her mom...

 Below: The longest tongue in the business - TOBY looking on...

 Time to put that tongue back where it belongs and say a friendly 'Hello!'

 TOBY: "Phew, that was hard.  I can let it all hang out now..."

 Below: Isobel, Carl, Jonty and Portia...

 The perfect recall...

Unfortunately all fun comes to an end.  It's time to get our things together and go home.

...UNTIL NEXT TIME!

Below: Abbey, Hoby and Darryl

"COME TOBY!"

...BECAUSE WE HAVE THINGS TO PREPARE:

In the next few days, our excitement and anticipation will escalate.

A new Golden puppy will be joining our ranks.

We look forward to welcoming our new puppy. Tomorrow's behavioural assessment will finally confirm who the little puppy will be.  It could be Aurora, it could be Belle.

My gut feel at the moment is that it will be...

But I will wait and see.  My prayers are that the right pup will find its way to me...and to Toby and Tammy.

Thank you to Marycke at QUILLQUEST GOLDEN RETRIEVERS for all your hard work to ensure the health, wellbeing and best development of these beautiful puppies.  

They are all absolutely stunning!

I can't wait to hear which dear little one will be mine...

A final thank you to all my companions who joined us in the park yesterday:

Les, Robz, Miss J, Liz, Darryl, Isobel, Carl

...and all the canine companions too!

"LIVE LIFE TO THE MAX!"

With love,