MEET THE KIDS

HI my name is Julie I am the proud mother (at least sometimes proud) of 6 Labs.
I will go in order of age my first born which is no longer with me is Hootch he died on July 16 2011.
 Hootch is the whole reason we started this ride!! It was with him that I fell hard in LOVE with this breed!! Hootch was born on August 1st 1998. He was born in the Humane Society. Shortly after the birth his mother passed away from poor care all her life. She gave the last little bit she could to give her kids life (the ultimate sacrifice). On this date that my sweet Hootch was born was also the day I married my best friend. My husband & I went on our Honey Moon of course. we were gone for ten days. when we got home I had a message from the Humane Society asking if I could foster some Pups in need of bottle feeding, I quickly said yes & set out to pick them up. By this time Hootch was ten days old, no eyes or ears yet. I took him & his sister home with me the rest of his siblings were divided up with other fosters. I ultimately decided to adopt Hootch & found a friend to adopt his sister.

I took Hootch on Vacation to his favorite place in the world!!! We call it the "HOOTCHIE RIVER" it's really any Mountain stream. Hootch never could swim. I know unusual for a Lab, He just seemed to be bottom heavy. He would sink. Scared the crap out of us the first time it happened! I learned to keep one eye on him and quickly learned where the deep end was, and he always listened to my boundaries. Any ways we took him up to Ga to a cabin for a week of romping in the water. He was the happiest I think I have ever seen him. He chased sticks & he carried rocks around with him he was so proud of himself when he was carrying a rock you could actually see him strutting his stuff. He was getting old. He was 12 in this last picture, this is him on this His last vacation. He was looking good though! No serious issues that we knew about. He had a growth on his lip that was scheduled to be removed  a week after we got home. He had already gotten all his pre surgery blood work and all was great! We came home and he went to surgery and came out great.  All was perfect! Test results came back that the lump was just a fatty tissue over growth, Yea NO CANCER!

Our life returned to normal. Then Just 5 weeks after we came home from the most fantastic trip and just a couple weeks from his 13th Birthday My sweet Boy died in my arms. I was home alone when I noticed him breathing heavy and he cried out once. I took notice but this really wasn't that unusual for him. He had arthritis pretty bad & some days were worse then others & he always was a panter. He seemed to be acting odd, so I figured he had to poo. I took him out & he walked to the fence line and collapsed. AT this moment my heart fell into my stomach! I knew something was very wrong!!!! I called my Husband to get home now! He had to go to the vets. I thought maybe a stroke. I got him in and laid him on the couch and just loved on him and told him over and over how special he was, and how much I loved him. It was at this time while waiting on our ride that I noticed his gums were pure white, and his tongue was white and cold, I was so scared I did alot of praying and begging for my miracle. I knew I was losing my son & I couldn't wrap my heart around this at all. I remember doing alot of 

"GOD DON'T YOU DARE TAKE HIM FROM ME"!!!

We finally got in the van and was on our way to the vets. Again the whole way there I was telling him what a good boy he was and how lucky I was to be owned by him & I love you so much sweet boy. We pulled into the parking lot of the vets and he wasn't breathing any more. I watched my husband carry my limp son into the  vets, they asked if we wanted CPR? At this point I still didn't know what was wrong with him so "yes please save my son!!!!!" 3 Min of CPR and they check his belly and find it full of blood. He had bled out from some tumor somewhere. Unknown to us. There is nothing they can do!! CPR was stopped.

MY SON, MY PRECIOUS BOY HOOTCH was gone.

I felt like the world stopped spinning. I couldn't breath  any more.

I got my sweet boy cremated & his ashes are divided. Half are with me at all times in a beautiful box and half are in the Hootchie River right where he was the happiest.

I will never get over this huge hole that was left with him leaving! And some days feel impossible to get through knowing hes not here.

We have been back to the Hootchie River a few times. And each time I go I write a small note describing Hootch and just how special he was. And how deeply missed he is. And I ask the person reading it to say a small prayer for him. I stick this note in a water bottle and screw the lid on tight, then send it down stream in the Hootchie River. I also always place a dog biscuit on a rock in the middle of the river just for him.

We actually have a trip all planed for June 15 2013 to go back to the cabin and to visit my sweet boy in his River. Im excited to be close to him again and to feel his presence.

Next would be my sweet Kali

(pronounced    -kay lee  -)

her AKC name is KALI'S GOLDEN MOMENT

she was born September 29 2003

she is what some would call a white Lab.

she was a mother many times and she gave me beautiful white polar bear pups

 Soon she started shedding like crazy.  she was also packing on the pounds. And she just wasn't playing any more. After tests at the vets it was clear she had a bad Thyroid. She was then retired as a breeder and just lived the lap of luxury. I did however do a round of Obedience trials with her and she took 2nd place on her first time it was the proudest moment I have ever felt!!!!

Kali is almost 10 now. She has bad arthritis in her elbows and she has had 4 breasts removed due to large uncancerous lumps. Her thyroid seems to be manged well, with daily pills that she loves taking. But her weight has never gone back to normal, its actually gotten worse she now weighs 104 lbs she should be around 75.

She doesn't get any treats except the occasional piece of bread. I think she was a duck in her past life this dog would pass on a steak for a small bite of bread!! She resembles a Gator jumping for chicken at Gator Land When you are offering her a piece of bread. Every Christmas and Birthday she gets a few pieces of bread wrapped up as a gift.

She misses being a mom. she tries to foster any baby she can reach from puppies to goats to even chickens. 

DAKOTA

her AKC name is DAKOTA MOUNTAIN BEAR

she was born August 30 2006

she is a chocolate

Dakota has also been a great mom and at this time she is till a breeder but her days are numbered she is really showing her age. I call her my star for fifty shades of grey!!

Dakota was a hard puppy to have she was a piddler. Even if you looked at her she would rollover and pee on herself. It was horrible I couldnt even pet her with out expecting an accident.

I fought through it helping her gain confidence in herself. I saw the beauty in her and I knew she would shine once she found some of this confidence. Sure enough after almost 1 1/2 years of piddling, she out grew it. 

She really turned into quite the lady!!

Now meet Kenai

(pronounced  - key ni   -)

he was born July 10 2007

AKC name is KENAI'S ORDINARY MIRACLE

he is a yellow Lab

I got Kenai as a trade. I gave one of my male pups for him with another breeder as I needed my own stud.

He was born in a litter of 16. Fifteen boys and one girl. All sixteen where yellow. What a huge litter & yes I was overwhelmed with picking just which puppy would be my new son.

Kenai is quite a character! He is a licker and a creeper. We even call him creepy alot! He seems to have an issue controlling his tongue. He licks the other dogs ears for hours until there nasty, dripping wet. He will also lick the bed like a lollipop until it looks like someone wet the bed. He will randomly start licking the floor and he will lick our hand for hours if you let him.

we will sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and find him sitting on the floor right beside the bed 4 inches from your face just staring at you. It really creeps you out!!

He is a squeaky fanatic!!! Anything that squeaks is his its funny watching him in WalMart when we are 4 or 5 aisles away & someone in the pet department is squeaking some toy he will stop dead in his tracks and his tail will start wagging and his ears go up. Very cute!!!  

Kenai was trained first in obedience then for a service dog. He got his badge when he turned 1. Now he goes every where with me. You should see this nut when he realizes we are going somewhere. He knows the subtle signs. First we lock up all the other dogs, this will get him up and watching & usually he will follow my husband around just waiting for the next sign, Then I get up & put on my shoes. This is Kenai's signal to go ape shit! He spins like a top and shakes with excitement!! it takes a moment to get a leash on him and get him in the van. This is where he will do a complete personality change. He gets serious and calm and snaps right into work mode its a completely different dog! Wow I just realize I have a dog with a split personality disorder !! He is the most well behaved and unfazed dog ever in public. The only thing he hates is Disney Fireworks! they scare the hell out of him. He has even been to Sea World & seen a Walrus a foot in front of him & he didn't care. He has been on many rides and he just sleeps on them all.

I have a costume for every holiday for him and he wears them all proudly.

Kenai is also an incredibly sweet father as shown below with his daughter!! 

next we have Misti

(pronounced  - mis  te-)

she was born October 8 2010

AKC name is MISTI'S SMOKEY MOUNTAIN STREAM

Misti is my first silver Lab But AKC still classifies them as a version of chocolate

Misti is a daddy's girl all the way!!! She follows him every where!!! She loves to have her nose planted up his butt. Its pretty funny to watch my Hubby get a rectal exam every morning! Misti also must be carrying some kind of toy at all times. Its like her own security blanket.

When my husband tries to play or pet one of our other dogs, Misti will get jealous and grab his arm and pull his hand away for the most part she's gentle when she does this, but she can get a bit panicked if she is being ignored or not getting her point across!!! She can also be demanding! when being petted once you start be prepared to not stop.If you stop and shes not ready for you to stop she will take her nose and nose you, over and over again until you start up again. it's like a kid slapping you, when you quite paying attention to them. Misti has one of the gentlest personalities I've ever seen.

Until you try to breed her. She is a HORRIBLE breeder. She refuses to stand for breeding.

Its like trying to breed a rabid Tyrannosaurus Rex! We had to  

wave the white flag on that part of breeding. However we found AI worked just fine for her.

she is a fantastic mom.

Meet Eragon

(pronounced  - air a gone-)

AKC name ERAGON GUARDIAN OF HOOTCHIE'S SPIRIT

born February 15 2012

he is also a silver or chocolate

Eragon is a very large boy. But with a puppy mentality. He weighs almost 100 lbs. But still wants to climb me or sit on me. He feels if its on the ground or within reach it belongs to him. He is very willful and stubborn. I have had to invest in a remote shock collar to get the upper hand with him.

Eragon has a gorgeous block head that I hope he passes on to all his kids.

He loves his toys for the short amount of time he keeps them in one piece. He seems to destroy most every thing I give him. That saying a "BULL IN A CHINA SHOP" was made up from him!!!

You should watch him drink!! He turns something as simple as "a drink of water" into a scuba diving event.

Eragon, also has his weird fetish he likes his tennis balls to be clean shaven. Absolutely no fuzz on any of them. He works for hrs on one ball, tearing every speck of fuzz off it. I think if he was a man in his past life his balls were as clean as a baby's bottom. I just hope he used a razor instead of his teeth as he does now.

a typical Birthday for my kids

And my last one (at least for now)

is Denali

(pronounced   -Da -na- lee--)

she was born January 2 2013

AKC name DANALI GREAT MOUNTAIN SNOW FALL

she is a very light yellow

Cant say much about her yet as I haven't had her even a week yet.

she is very well behaved. I can leave her in my kitchen with the boundary wall open and she stays there. a first for all my pups. she is a very brave happy girl. Her tail is always wagging. she loves Eragon alot. She is very independent and entertains herself easily.