Jean,

We can't thank you enough for the wonderful joy that our two Rivergroves Pyrs, Mabel and Manny, have brought into our lives. They are pure love; they keep us grounded; they keep us laughing; they keep our lives in balance; they keep us happy!
Mabel is the daughter of Jack and Amanda; Manny is from Pierre Joette and Jett Jackson. They are larger than life in body, mind, and spirit! Such delightful personalities! And they are the best of friends - the best thing we ever did was to get both of them. 
Constant playing, snooting, frolicking. Never knew the room in our hearts - and our home - could get so big. We will always make room for Mabel and Manny, as every night they join us and curl-up in our small den. What a great way to end the day! Thank you!

Best from this happy household,

Debra and Harvey Goldstein
Minneapolis, MN

Hi Jean:

We hope that this e-mail finds you in good health! Today is the marks the one year anniversary of Lacy being with us. What a year it has been. You were so right - she is incredibly sweet. She is also incredibly stubborn - her stubbornness makes life interesting and quite fun!

Attached are two pictures of her with Jack - who is adored by Lacy and who adores the "little" girl. She makes our lives so happy.

Thank you for your guidance and for such a wonderful companion and friend!

Ralph & Lisa Stines

Hi Jean,

Stella loves being a housedog since we moved from the Colorado mountains to the South Carolina horse country in 2005!

We weren't sure she would adapt to the weather change - she had been such a outdoor dog, in charge of security on our 9 acres on the side of Mt. Princeton, near Buena Vista, CO.

We arrived in Aiken SC on September 23, 2005 -- the temperature was 98, and the humidity was 97.

After a brief walk around the yard, we took Stella inside - and she "told" us that she was sure she could learn to be a housedog.

We are grateful to be able to say that she has accepted the limits of the Invisible Fence in our new front yard.

She protects us from all predators, barking ferociously at any dog in the neighborhood.

Except for Hamish, a Westie who lives about 2 blocks away who has become Stella's best buddy.

Stella is from your litter out of Rivergroves Simply Irresistable, by Rivergroves The Choice is Clear - May 15, 2001.

I remember you telling me that this was a litter of all girls, and you had given all of them "girl" names, like Rosemary, Jasmine, Clementine, Stella.

Stella is a joyous, active member of our family - and very healthy.

Our previous two Pyrs were littermates - from a backyard breeder in Colorado Springs - unregistered, etc.

One developed Addison's disease when she was a year old, and we kept her going, on medications, for another five years - and then elected to euthanize her after she developed an osteosarcoma in a foreleg.

The other developed an osteosarcoma about a year later - the bone had fractured through the tumor when we discovered it - had the vet check her limp - and she was eventually euthanized when we all agreed it was time.

We visited Rivergroves in 1999 and talked with you about getting another Pyr after some time had passed.

In summer of 2001, you emailed photos of "the girls" and that was all it took.

Stella flew from Baltimore to Denver, arriving the evening of September 10, 2001. We are so grateful to share our lives with this precious dog. We hope she lives to a ripe old age.

Thank you for helping her find us!

Julie and Ken Callahan

Hi Jean,

It's hard to believe that Storm has turned 5 last month. He is such a good boy, doesn't have a mean bone in his body. A friend of mine that breeds Chihuahuas gave us two of them (4 lbs). We were a little concerned about what Stormy would do. needless to say, he is very gentle and completely uninterested in what they do. He knows that he needs to look out for them, he is amazing! The little dogs are learning that when Stormy gets tired to get out of the way because he just "plops" himself down, Chihuahua or not.

I'll try and get you a picture of him, he has "movie star looks". Whereever we go, Stormy makes a scene. His best buddy Phoenix(13 year old black lab) is slowing down, and it has us worried. Storm and Phoenix are so close and we have to think about what to do should something happen to Phoenix.
Hope all is going well. We will send you a picture soon.

The Turk family
Bob, Tina, Devin, Mackenzie, Stormy, Phoenix, Santana & Bently

Hi Jean,

I am thrilled you were able to play the mini videos of the puppies!  They are definitely "city" dogs, but they do get to run around on the grass too.  The park where we take them is so great for them, and as I told you, they are so friendly and just love all dogs.  Truly, the best natured dogs I've been with.  We are so proud of them--of course it doesn't hurt that they are beyond breathtaking!  A little boy about 2 1/2 was there with his dog and parents the other day and he was backing up and fell over backwards into one of the sand/gravel boxes.  He started to cry really loudly and Cash heard him, got up from chewing a tennis ball and went right up to him to see if he was okay--he just snuffled into him-and then Chloe came to check on him.  They stayed hovered over him until his Mom came over to pick him up and then the puppies followed them to the bench like they were his personal emergency escorts--Oh God, you cannot imagine how sweet it was.  The parents were amazed.  Wayne and I are going to start trying soon to have a baby and all we talk about is how excited we are to see C & C with our child.  Chloe especially is very maternal.  I don't think though that any strangers will get within 10 feet of that baby!  They are super alert and protective of me at night when we have our last walk.  We will never be able to thank you enough for these dogs.  I will always love my Golden and Shepherd and never thought I could love another dog like I loved them, but these puppies absolutely opened my heart right back up--they are both treasures.  As usual, I've gone on, and on but they are priceless and worth every syllable.  I will send more pictures as we take them.  Enjoy the rest of your summer.

Hi Jean,

We had a very very good trip home, although it is quite a drive.  The dog was fantastic in the car.  You could tell she was in shock a bit but she did so well.  Already this morning she has taken over the house.  It is quite something seeing all of the puppy proofing we missed before her arrival.  We love her to death.  She is so sweet and all in all very good.  Oh yes, she is also showing lots of signs of that intelligence you spoke of.  We can't thank you enough for all of your help.  We will certainly stay in touch and
let you know how she is doing.  We talked about the name most of the way home and we haven't quite settled yet.  The front runners are Guinevere, Madison (Maddy) after one of my favorite fly fishing rivers and mountain ranges in Montana where I lived for many years, Bridger after a favorite ski area in Montana, and Wrigley after Wrigley Field where the Chicago Cubs (my favorite baseball team) play ball.  Any thoughts on those.  I am leaning toward Wrigley because somehow it fits her but it is not popular with everyone we have talked to.  Anyway, thanks again.  We are thrilled. 

Take Care,
Ty

You might like an update on iPod. Not yetcompletelyhousebroken (sigh), chews anything he can reach and he can reach anything. He especially loves to grab the handle of mugs and slosh the contents everywhere. I can never seem to grab it before he can. But other than the usual puppy stuff, he's lovely. He and Chicago are getting along fine. He did beautifully at puppy kindergarten. Sits, downs, stays with hand signals alone. Heels and sits at the stop. The trainer says he has a gorgeous show gait. It is a bit of a sassy prance. He's very confident but totally non aggressive. I'm taking him to intermediate training because he seems to enjoy it so much and catches on so easily. He learned to open my back door and come inside (lever door, pushes in) on the second day he was here.

Max loves his job and he is VERY good at it.  Angel is too and she and Max make a great team.  Angel seeks affection from me from time to time, but she, too, most often chooses the goats over me.  Max is totally independent in his job and impresses everyone, he takes no commands or orders, he knows what he is doing and does it.  We had a brief time when he was being food aggressive with the goats grain feed, so I decided to feed him greater quanties of dog food, that worked.  Apparently I was not feeding him enough.  He is very lean, Angel is roundie'.

He hates Blue I guess because Blue is not neutered.  I keep them on opposite sides of the electric fence.

Gerrilee

Hi Jean.

We did receive the papers. My goodness - there isn't a single ancestor of Zorro that wasn't a champion! It's no wonder that he seems so perfect. He's cuter than ever even though I think he's gained about five pounds in the last ten days. He seems to be growing in front of our eyes. His personality is very outgoing and confident. He loves people. - especially children; and although strong-willed he's very sweet. He's also very smart and quick to learn. In short, he's everything that I had hoped for. Thanks for everything.

Harvey

Hi Jean,

Just wanted to thank you for offering Nene to us.  She is doing well.  When we got her home, she was introduced to the other dogs who were all awed by her size and gave her lots of respect.  She spent several hours checking out the yard, having something to eat and drinking lots of water.  Being in the house was definitely a new experience.  She spent the night in Jennifer’s room, sleeping next to her bed.  She was pretty restless the first night.  I took Friday off from work and spent time with her in the yard and the house to give her time to bond and start to understand the rules.  The second day she settled down quite a bit and started to get the hang of the routine.  She is intrigued by our chickens and spends a great deal of time staring at them through the fence.  I tried to get her interested in fetching the ball which is a very popular pastime with the poodles but she was not interested.

She is responding to housebreaking well, but needs to learn about basic indoor doggy rules like don’t steal things off the counter and don’t chew on the remote controls.  She loves to crunch water bottles of all things!!   She is responding quite positively to all the human interaction and loves to be petted and talked to and is very affectionate which is great.  The other dogs are a little less intimidated by her by now but I think she will end up to be the dominant dog in the house.  This week I plan to work on basic things like housebreaking and counters.  She has already learned not to jump up on people. 

All in all, we are delighted.  It takes awhile for a dog to learn a new routine but she seems willing and able and it will just take time.  Do you have any suggestions on teaching her not to jump up on counters, etc?  I plan to take her in to be spayed in the next month or so.  I want to give her plenty of time to adjust and bond before dealing with that.  I haven’t tried a walk outside of the yard yet since I want her to identify strongly with the house and yard first.

As I said to Mckee, please feel free to stop by and visit if you are ever in the area.  I tried calling McKee but got no answer so I will try again.  Nene  is a great dog and we really enjoy her

Joyce Bailey