Funk's Bro, Jasper

Remember this guy?

He's been returned to Pound Puppy Rescue because his "family can no longer keep him." And WHY NOT, Jasper's family? Ugh. Y'know, these kinds of things really frost my cookies. I mean, I understand that sometimes people find themselves in circumstances they didn't anticipate and I would, of course, rather have an animal returned to a rescue than risk being neglected or completely abandoned but pets are members of your family. People should understand before adopting that pets live many years and are a BIG responsibility - they should not be viewed as expendable items. I realize not everyone is as goo-goo for animals as I am but it really irks me when people don't realize just how affected animals are by such huge life changes. It's a big deal. I wouldn't give Garfunkel up for anything and I hope that Jasper's next home really IS his forever home.

If you know anyone who's interested:

CLICK HERE to go to Jasper's Petfinder page

The Last Piece of the Puppy Puzzle!

YAY!!! I was a bit snarky about Sneezy's owner in an earlier post but the dude came through. Late yesterday afternoon I got an e-mail from the last remaining Snow White family member:

"I adopted Sneezy, his new name is Timber. As you all have probably noticed, our dogs are genetically confused. Timber had a hard time deciding what type of dog he wanted to be with the size of his ears and his body hair. In the end, he took on the shape of a German Shepherd with a terrier face and a Husky style tail. He is the most loving, energetic and curious puppy I have ever owned. He has the strangest disposition in that he loves to watch TV and he is capable of recognizing any animal including those which are animated. He too likes to bark at statues of bears and other animals. He is approximately 55lbs and has an incredible personality. He has a 6lb Pomeranian as his best friend and he is incredibly gentle and protective of him. Timber loves to play at the beach, digging in the sand and running out into the waves, and likes to swim in any body of water, small or large. His only downside is that he is very verbal and likes to let me know he is bored, anxious, or excited, by whining at me."

Wow! I keep saying it over and over (but this is the last puppy so it'll be the last time) but I just cannot get over how diverse the SW litter turned out to be! They all looked similar as puppies but yowza did they grow up differently! (I don't think puppy Timber looks anything like adult Timber, do you? There's just no hint of terrier-like features at ALL!) The ears, the coats, the tails, the weights and personalities are all different. Garfunkel definitely has the shape of a German Shepherd and I can see his body in Timber's. But where did all the terrier-like beard faces come from?! Crazy. And how did the two smallest dogs wind up to be so darn big?! (Though I think Cooper is the biggest; he just looks huge in his photos!) Garfunkel IS a bit of a whiner, though, so he and Timber certainly share that little personality trait. And the big, bat-like ears. :o) Oh, and the protective nature - Garfunkel is very protective of little Quigley when he thinks someone he doesn't know is messing with his friend.

So, to wrap up, here's a final collage of the Snow White litter. Amazing.

Almost a Complete Set

Weehoo! Ask and ye shall receive. :o) Here are some photos of Garufunkel's sister, Doc, who is now Bella. According to her new family, Bella "is the sweetest puppy ever. She has beautiful markings and she is very loving. She's approx 50 pounds. She gets a little scared at new things, like ceiling fans. And she really doesn't like statues for some reason. But she has not been a trouble maker at all. She knows what her toys are and she only chews her toys. :-) She loves the water and being sprayed by the hose."

I'm really baffled by the sizes of the puppies. How did Bella and Grumpy wind up so much smaller than the rest when they weren't the runts of the litter?! Weird. And I'm surprised Bella likes water since Garfunkel does NOT. Well, that's not entirely true - he does love to chase the spray from the hose when Robert sprays down the patio. But he does not love swimming pools or baths and he only likes puddles every once in a while. Physically speaking, though, I think Bella most closely resembles the Funk. They definitely have the same kind of tail and, more than any of the other puppies, Bella's ears are most like Garfunkel's. Right?

The 4th Funk Sibling

This is Grumpy, one of Garfunkel's sisters. I think her family kept her name Grumpy since the e-mail they sent last week doesn't mention a new name. Then again, their e-mail was pretty lame so maybe they just left it out! Here's their description of Grumpy: "She has been so much fun to have around although she is a big trouble maker. We've lost about a dozen socks and often find kitchen utensils hiding in our backyard. She is over 50 lbs now." Not super informative - and the photo isn't showing me much of the puppy - but it's better than nothing! And though the description is brief I definitely see shades of Garfunkel in there - he just LOVES to snag a sock from the laundry basket or hamper and either toss it into the air over and over or try and goad us into chasing him. I'm surprised Grumpy is so small (relative to her siblings); Dopey and Garfunkel were the two runts of the litter and they're both 60 pounds now.

So, now we've heard from Grumpy, Dopey, Happy and Sleepy but we have yet to hear from Doc or Sneezy. Sneezy's dad flaked on the pick-up event so I doubt we'll ever hear from him but I would like to know how Doc turned out, since he was the only grey-and-black pup of the litter.

More Funk Siblings!!!

Yay!! Two more Snow White families e-mailed Robert yesterday about their puppies!

This is Schatzi, formerly Dopey and our 2nd pick if we didn't snag the Funk. She definitely seems the most like Garfunkel, personality-wise:

"Her fur is wiry and coarse around her neck, shoulders and down her back like a little mullet. She is a sweet, goofy dog that loves to give kisses [check]. She's not the most graceful dog but extremely loving [check]. Schatzi is quiet protective of the family [check]. She is a little reactive on leash at times but off leash does great playing w/ any dog [check]. She is approx. 60 lbs and 23 1/2 inches tall at the shoulder. She plays constantly w/ our other rescue dog and our boys. She loves to de-stuff any toy looking for the squeaker and to tear the fuzz of tennis balls [check and check]."


And this is Cooper (né Sleepy):


"He has a bit of a beard, a very smooth, soft coat that is thicker across his shoulders and down his back, like a cape. The goofball part is right on. His pack includes dogs, cats, guinea pigs and tortoises. We live in Santa Cruz and walk to the beach each morning. We went to the reunion and met Mama who has a lot of Chow in her. Cooper has a couple of Chow-like black spots on his tongue."

The Chow thing is good to know - we were told by PPR that they thought the mom had some Chow in her and Garfunkel's DNA test came back with a small percentage of Chow. However, because he has no purple on his tongue - and the DNA test seemed sort of bogus anyway - we weren't 100% convinced the Funk has any Chow in him at all. But it sounds like Cooper's (human) mom can confirm that Snow White does indeed have some Chow in her and Garfunkel's tail is awfully curly...

I'm just glad Garfunkel doesn't have a beard or a predominantly wiry coat. The hair on the back of his hind legs is a bit wiry but that's it; overall, he's pretty darn sleek and smooth. Yay!!! I know I'd love him just as much if he were my bearded dog... but he's not and by comparison I think he's the most handsome of the bunch. I'm just sayin'. I don't know where Garfunkel's ears come from, though - both Cooper and Schatzi have sort of horizontal-lying ears while Jasper's ears are pretty perky. No one has wonderfully wonky ears like the Funk. :o)

Garfunkel's Brother

When we adopted Garfunkel, all of the foster families exchanged e-mail addresses in order to keep in touch, arrange play dates, etc. Well, of course, nobody in our group did much of anything; one family e-mailed the results of their MARS panel but aside from that we haven't heard a peep from anyone. So, imagine my surprise when Robert forwarded an e-mail to me earlier this afternoon from one of the Funk's litter mates! Jasper (who was Happy) is "a goofball, and extremely cuddly... [with] an almost waterproof wiry coat, a scruffy beard, and huge brown eyes. He's not a large dog either; his back is about level with [one's] knees." Check him out!



Robert sees more similarities between Garfunkel and Jasper than I do... Though, it's hard to say anything with any degree of certainty because the angle of the 'now' photo is so odd. It's hard to tell how big Jasper really is or what the contours of his face really look like. But the Funk definitely doesn't have a wiry coat (thank goodness!! Sorry, Blackards.) and Jasper's ears aren't really anything like the Funk's. (Garfunkel's ears are sooo much better. They have personality!) The hair around Jasper's muzzle is much, much longer than Garfunkel's, too. But the shape of their mouth looks fairly similar; I can definitely see Garfunkel in Jasper's bottom jaw (and teeth!). And while I wouldn't classify Garfunkel as "extremely" cuddly, he DOES like to snuggle every so often. He also tolerates our unsolicited hugs and kisses extremely well. :o) I'm just bumfuzzled at the physical diversity in the litter - crazy! I would love to see what some of the other puppies look like so I hope Jasper's family's e-mail spurs others to share. We're definitley going to.

Snow White

Since I posted photos of Gar's siblings, I thought I'd post a photo of his mom for comparison/reference, too. She was off PPR's site for a week or so but she's back now so I was finally able to get a photo (however unflattering).

She's listed as a medium-sized dog (40 - 50 lbs) with a curly tail. "Officially" she's listed as a labrador/cattle dog mix but they never really know what they're talking about. (Caution: I am working under the influence of both a severe sleep-deprivation induced coma and a wicked headache so I may be repeating myself here. Apologies in advance if that's the case!) My boss said she thinks there may be a bit of border collie in there (especially in the ears) and I agree - Garfunkel has the teensiest sliver of a white streak on his chest. So I think I'm going to call Garfunkel a lab/shepherd mix and call it a day. Though I could always do one of those mail-away DNA kits that you can get from pet magazines...

Garfunkel's Siblings

When you adopt a puppy, Pound Puppies Rescue asks if you want to share your contact info to keep in touch with the litter mates' families (to arrange play dates, etc.). Everyone from the Snow White litter opted in on that so Robert and I just received an e-mail with everyone's info and photos of each family with their pup. I thought you all might like to sneak a peek at what Garfunkel's brothers and sisters look like.

Doc

Dopey (she was our 2nd choice - the runt)

Grumpy

Happy

Sleepy

The dude that adopted Sneezy didn't show up, so his photo's not included (loser), but he is a little tan guy with white paws like Grumpy. As you can see, there is quite a variety of looks in the Snow White litter. I still think Garfunkel is the cutest. He's just SO darn cute!!!! :o)

Change in the Game Plan

As part of the puppy adopting process, Robert and I attended a Pound Puppies Rescue event at Pet Food Express in San Jose. I honestly didn't know what to expect - I kind of thought we'd just get to check out the puppies in the flesh. Oh no. First, you have to sign in when you first arrive (the event started at 1 and everyone was strongly encouraged to arrive on time) . Then, you have to line up... just so you can wind up bunching up in the dog washing area to hear a 10-minute spiel on what puppy ownership really requires. After all that, you are allowed to enter the puppy zone where each litter is enclosed in a fence - with a handler - for you to pet but not pick up. You stand around and wait until your name is called - then you get to have your picture taken and be interviewed by one of the PPR volunteers.

Flower is the little gal in the pink collar (of the two center pups, she's on the left)

Flower is a part of the Bambi litter, so that's where we headed first. That litter wasn't particularly popular but I think that's just because they were really the only small dogs there. Most people seemed interested in the bigger breeds, especially the lab/retriever mixes. So, Robert and I hung around the Bambi area for a while, crouching down to pet the puppies. Flower was by far the biggest of her litter and, I'm sorry to say, not too personable. There were two that just loved being played with and petted and two that just had no interest whatsoever, Flower being the most disinterested of all. Great. After about 10 minutes we thought we should move around to let someone else have a chance to not pet Flower so we wandered over to the Snow White litter. Oh. My. Goodness. Now, I had liked this litter from the Web site - they are a lab/husky/shepherd mix and they are SO CUTE! But I knew we were in the market for a smaller dog, so I just told Robert how cute they were about 40 times and then tried to focus on Flower.

This is Bashful, my pick from the Snow White litter, gnawing on Robert's thumb.

Anyway, about a half-hour into the event, our name was finally called. We interviewed with Kathleen, the head honcho lady and the foster mom of the Bambi litter (Robert has spoken to her on the phone several times already). We had to tell her what we knew about crate training and blah blah blah but somewhere in there I blurted out that I really wanted a bigger dog. To which Kathleen replied, "Well, do you even like little dogs?" I felt like a giant ass!!! Oy. So, I frantically tried to backpedal and just say that I love all dogs and would just love to have one but that, at

this time in our current abode, we felt a smaller dog was better. Then we got a very peppy speech about how it's a fallacy that big dogs need big yards and that big dogs just want to be with you, no matter the space and that as long as they get exercise, they're happy to follow you around and live with you anywhere. Then we got another mini-speech about how little dogs can't be left alone as well and they're yappier and blah blah blah. So, I totally threw Flower under the bus and got on the Snow White train. (Sorry, Flower.)

At first I felt like I'd sort of strong-armed Robert into getting a bigger dog but he said no - he was growing increasingly concerned about the yappy factor the more he chatted with people at his office about potential puppies. Plus, he knew I really wanted a bigger dog so he'd done some investigating and found the same info that Kathleen had told us - basically, that big dogs can live anywhere. And the Snow White puppies won't be "large;" they'll be medium-sized, about 40-50 pounds. So, hopefully, our parents won't mind us dragging our puppy to their yards for some exercise... ! Hey, at least they'll get to see us more, right?

After we told Kathleen we were interested in the Snow White litter, we had a 2nd interview with Indrani, the woman who is fostering the SW litter. However, as we left her Kathleen told us we were "pre-approved" (by the head honcho, no less!) because she felt we were prepared and knew what we were doing. Success! We chatted with Indrani a bit and, basically, we'll find out later this week which puppy (if any) we've been matched with. After that, the puppies will be fixed on March 11-12 and then we can bring one home! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!