Happy Birthday to all Christmas Elves! Leon (formerly Alabaster Snowball) is celebrating his first birthday today. We really celebrated yesterday. We are now in Family Dog 4 at the local Humane Society classes sponsored by the St. Louis Dog Training Club. So proud of Shelby (formerly Susanna) and Leon, they are the hound masters of recall. No other dog can match them!

After class the celebration continued with a round of “Happy Birthday to Leon” and Booda bones. Later on, Nylabones (Leon just couldn’t quite stay awake after the Nylabone!)

The hounds’ are getting ready for Halloween with their costumes. Leon the Pirate and Shelby (of course, what else) a witch!

Next doggy celebration for us comes in November as we celebrate a year with Shelby.

We love, Love, LOVE them so very much!!

Lori and Brian

25 October 2007

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Calling all Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band members!! We just celebrated Shelby’s first birthday and hope that her brothers and sisters are all doing the same. We designated August 15 as her birthday. It was a hot, hot day here in Missouri, so celebrations took place inside with chew toys. The green tennis ball bone didn’t last long, but the round ring is a winner! Tough toy. Anyway, we will be celebrating Leon’s birthday later on in October as we have designated October 15 for Leon’s birthday. We are celebrating Leon today because this is his six month anniversary with us. Chew hooves for everyone!! Just had to drop a note and a few pics to let everyone know how Shelby and Leon are doing. We love them so very much. Every day is a gift! Lori and Brian 4 September 2007 Hello from St. Louis. It's been a while since we posted pictures of Shelby (formerly Susanna from Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band) and Leon (formerly Alabaster from the Christmas Elves). They are a joy!! Total opposites. Shelby is type A+++++ (excitable girl), Leon is very laid back (gentle boy). They balance each other and us! Leon is such a calm and loving boy with very soft eyes and ears that he likes to wear in a blown back type of fashion. He still likes to chew on wood (we heard his favorite puppy toy was a 2x4). He loves our young cat Ricci and they can be found sleeping together at times. Leon loves the outdoors and really does not bark unless it is called for. He also loves to ride in the car. Just a sweet, sweet boy he is." Shelby is hot like fire! She has a bit of a aggressive/possessive eating disorder, so we have been hand feeding her. Someday she and Leon will be able to eat dinner together, we are working on that. She is also wearing a D.A.P. Collar to provide calming pheromones. So far she seems a bit more balanced because of it. She gets a new one this weekend. She loves barking at anything (excuse me, it really should be described as a a blow your hair back braaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy!). We are working on "good quiet" out in the yard and she has been very responsive. Shelby hates riding in the car, going for walks or anything that she feels she has no control over. She likes to be at home where she can pretend to be the boss. We love her for all of that : ) We have been attending Family Dog classes at the local Humane Society. Both Shelby and Leon graduated from Family Dog 1 after three sessions. Now in Family Dog 2, which is a little more challenging, but both doggy dogs may graduate next class, according to the instructor. We are so very proud of them and love them both with all our hearts. We’ve probably have had our hands full, but it truly has been a joy. As the photos only show that momentary bit of time captured forever, it’s hard to get the full effect of the continuous joy and amusement these two bring us. What a GREAT dog Leon is - he's perfect - and distracts the Shelbernator when she’s FULL tilt! Thanks for the work you do – these two have found their “forever” home! Life is happier with an American Black and Tan Coonhound (or two!) Lori and Brian 17 July 2007 She is doing GREAT. Learning every day. "Smart, smart, smart" is my description. Okay, so we’re a little sleep deprived and she’s a bundle of whoop a$$ sometimes but it’s been GREAT so far. As Lori and I can both attest to, there’s NOTHING like sleeping with a Coonie! We put a new crate in the bedroom as she quickly outgrew the plastic carrier we picked her up in and we didn’t want to leave her in the downstairs crate at night. I think she slept in that crate for maybe part of one night and then I was awoken by her nose after Lori let her out and decided that it was time to let her try sleeping with us. She does great in both of our crates when necessary although she hates being in one when we’re anywhere in the vicinity. She’s getting closer each week to being house broken and she does try, bless her. She loves being good. doesn’t seem to mind stretching a bit to see what’s what but that’s the smart part, too. She knows what to chew on, has plenty of toys and sometimes will go upstairs to find a favorite she’s been moving from floor to floor. What a smarty!! We really appreciate all the work you do and we simple LOVE Shelby. Thanks for all your hard work and continued efforts. Brian and Lori 9 December 2006 She's beautiful!! We named her Shelby, since that is where we first met. She has settled in fine with the other dogs and cats here. Her best friend so far is our 4 month old kitten. We love her so much!! One of Shelby's favorite new toys is a plush raccoon. Took to it immediately. Go figure. Well, this is as close to the real thing that she will see with us since she won't be hunting, but I couldn't help getting it when I saw it. Thanks for all of your help. The work that you are doing for the Black and Tan Coonhound is awesome! Brian and Lori 12 November 2006