We took Shiloh’s cone collar off today after wearing it for 1 1/2 weeks.  The gynormous cone is something the Veterinarian recommends following surgery to keep animals from licking their wound.  (Shiloh’s fine…he was neutered.)

At first, he was scared of the cone.  He would wake up in a panic and try to get out of it.  Also, the cone distorted his vision and made him a bit clumsy.  He would get caught on protruding things, especially the kitchen cabinets, as he followed me around the house (a favorite thing for a golden retriever to do). 

Nevertheless, Shiloh adapted and very quickly I might add.

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Here are some photos of Shiloh – he’ll be eight months old soon.  Shiloh’s had a very eventful life lately experiencing several firsts: 
His first time decorating the Christmas tree…
His first snowfall…
His first holiday parties… 

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Such a simple truth…I cry every time I watch it.

While training our new puppy Shiloh this summer, I have learned that the power of praise is more effective than the sting of a correction.

Shiloh has some bad habits (see photos above) another one is jumping up on the counter and/or table for food.  Correcting this behavior has become desperate because he can now reach a pot of boiling water on the stove and is obsessed with it.  That would be a lesson he wouldn’t forget, but it’s one I don’t want him to have to learn!

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It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost three weeks since we brought Shiloh home! 

As my husband, Rod and I watched him sleep this morning we had mixed feelings.  We are physically exhausted because of all the house training and general rules of human/canine contact (i.e. no…you can’t eat the carpet, furniture, shoes, our hands, our feet, and pee where ever you want.)  We long to be able to leave him alone for 10 minutes without him needing parental supervision. 

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I’ve been having a lot of mixed feelings these last few days as Shiloh is adjusting to his new home.  My emotions swing from happy to sad.  I’m happy because of our new baby while at the same time I’m sad because our dog Razmus went home to heaven so early. 

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NOT!  Well maybe the physical location of Shiloh was a place of rest…but Shiloh’s first night home was not restful at all.  The poor little fella had a really, really, REALLY hard time adjusting.  

There is no easy was to help puppies the first night home.  They have spend the last 8 weeks in a huddle with all their brothers and sisters.  There are many tricks of the trade you can use, but the bottom line is…it’s hard, they don’t like it, but it is something that must be done and done well.  

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Here is our new baby…SHILOH!  He and Rugby are getting along like they have known each other all their lives.

Shiloh was the puppy with the teal collar and he picked us more than we picked him.  For the last 4 weeks of visits he was the first of the ten puppies to get to us.  He was always in front of the pack to greet Rod and I and when he got there he would just park himself in our lap. 

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The time has finally come…tomorrow we get to bring our new little family member home.  We wish we could take them all home LOL.  Two little guys have touched both of our hearts in a special way.  They are all so precious it is hard to pick just one.  I’ll let you know our final decission soon.

I would like to make a spirtual connection to all this of coarse.  It is hard to communicate the excitement we feel in our hearts, but really my heart feels like it’s going to burst.  The Lord asked me to write so articles regarding desiring and getting excited for His Spirit.  Click the following titles for those connections. 

Kiss Of Fire

Anticipation

The Promise of The Father

It’s no wonder that what is considered as ”man’s best friend” is G-O-D spelled backwards aye?

Selah…

The puppies are 3 weeks old now…35 days to go until we can bring the little fella home.  YIPEE!  Our excitement is growing each day.

The puppies have their eyes open and are beginning to be able to move around a little better.  

This is my husband Rodney and one of the puppies of the litter which we will be adopting our new son from.  In this picture the puppy was 12 days old, (today as I post this he is 16 days old.)We are anxiously counting down the 8 weeks (56 days) until we are able to bring puppy home and we are growing more excited each day.  But the excitement doesn’t stop there, our entire circle of family and friends is joining in with our anticipation and an excitement is arising within them as well.

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