New home, new name

Mr Black - 15 days old

Well, after a couple of months of searching, the male puppy born May 31, 2011 known as Mr Black (aka  Tunder) has found his new forever home.   And he now has a new name - Charlie.   Interestingly, the pups in this litter were given more "people" names as call names than any other litter we've produced!  We have Elsie, Stella, William and now Charlie.  No doubt Freud would have a field day with this!

4 weeks & 2 days old

Almost 5 months

Charlie with his new hu-mom

And Charlie now lives with a kitten - named  . . . Pete!

Pete relaxes while Charly chews

Parting with a five-month old, adorable, loving, smart puppy was definitely hard.  The longer a pup / dog stays with me, the bigger the bond we develop and the more love is exchanged and Tunder / Charlie had really bonded with me.  And it sure wasn't hard to love this puppy because he has such a sweet temperament and is such a 'softie', as most of the boys are in the Vizsla breed.

Why didn't I keep him? Well, if it were solely my decision, I most likely would have because I have wanted a really nice male to show in conformation for years and years.  However, I have another better half who gets more stressed with multiple dogs in the house than I do and I have to consider his feelings.  As we know, marriage is all about compromise and one partner can't always have her own way all the time.  Darn!!

Mr Black stacked at 8 weeks

Plus the reality is, with us traveling back and forth between two homes in two countries is harder with 4 dogs rather than 3.  Well, what's one more when you have already have 3?  It's simply a lot more dog stuff, especially crates, to transport in our van and to shlep into/out of hotels and some of the hotel rooms barely have room for 3 crates, let alone 4.  Hubs already complains that our van is filled mainly with dog stuff when we drive back and forth to AZ, and he's right!!  And when we travel without dogs - which we want to do a lot more of - boarding 4 dogs becomes very expensive or trying to find places where our dogs can stay is far more difficult. The boarding kennel I use in Arizona costs about the same price per night for 3 pooches as an expensive hotel room costs for us and that sure adds up!!  And I don't like to impose on my dog-owning friends and clients too often by asking them to look after our dogs while we're away.

They say as you age you should downsize and I guess that's what I'm starting to do with dogs by not adding any more to our menagerie.

So (Tunder) Charlie, I know you will be loved, cherished, adored and well-taken care of  by your new family and you'll be the star attraction in your house - well, at least when Pete the cat isn't upstaging you. But I sure miss you!!!