Welcome to June. We will have another birthday week later this month but today we finish up the Wildflower Updates by catching up with Birthday Boy, Kitsap…
Baby Kitsap (Sage)
Bridget shares:
“Kitsap brings us such joy. While it is hard to compare with our memory, we are pretty certain that Kitsap is the biggest boned and strongest of our four Berners, all boys. He stands about 27” at the withers. I’m guessing he weighs about 95 lbs, our last formal weight was at 9 months where he weighed in at 90 lbs. He’s got a great Swiss cross. He loves to give me a full Berner greeting when I come home. In the attached photo, I am 5’5” tall wearing clogs and he has no problem putting his front paws on my shoulders.
Folks may enjoy the photos in front of and in the bookcase. When first came home he would lay on the bottom shelf, now he is longer than the case.
We were scheduled to take our Novice Trick Dog test as part of our end of our Fundamental Obedience class, unfortunately the instructor certified to administer the test had vertigo that day. We probably have 15-16 of the tricks on the list. Now that the semester is over I plan to get my husband to video and submit to earn the title. Speaking of classes, we successfully completed basic obedience, fundamental obedience and are currently in a novice competition obedience class. He’s great at healing, figure eights, sits, and downs, and has an awesome come. His challenge is stand for exam and distractions more generally. He’s hard to predict one stranger is a great friend, the next one needs to be barked at.
Kitsap went camping for his first birthday. Hanging out at the campsite and sleeping in a tent was just fine. Given it was only 40°F overnight he very much appreciated the insulating interlocking rubber mat squares like Mary-Ann’s that we used to line his portion of the tent floor. You can see how bundled I am pictured with him on the porch of the lighthouse.
Kitsap is an only dog, still he has several playmates. He plays weekly with Hasley, an English Springer Spaniel. When they meet each week best to be out of the way as the run toward each other with serious gusto. He also regularly enjoys playing with Windsor, a standard poodle, Freye and Ellie, both labradadoodles, and Jake, a German Shepherd. He loves to chase a ball and goes through his tunnel with gusto. We have started weave polls and with a set of three have no problem, getting ready to add three more. He loves to table and walk on a retaining wall to simulate the dog walk.
Kitsap is definitely a water loving dog and will jump right in any stream or pond given the opportunity.
He’s a handsome boy who gets lots of compliments whenever we are out and about.”
Kitsap is indeed very handsome and I am grateful for his amazing life — thank you to his wonderful family.
That concludes our Wildflower Birthday Week. I want to thank each and every family for giving all of us the chance to catch up on how well the Wildflowers are blooming.
Please have a terrific day — even if it is not your birthday.