Cassie get her own Blog!

Good Morning, Chris - Please know that we still continue to send you emails and updates as ourlittle Cassie grows BUT you really did inspire us with your White Diamondblog.Cassie now has her own blog that will contain quite a few more pics andstories than we could possibly ask you to post. There will be more friendsand family members for our personal audience and hasn't been included on theBlogSpot search engines. But, we thought you might enjoy some of theditzier pics and stories. We've even added a Travel Blog to our profilethat will cover us when we travel this summer (and beyond).http://rollalongcassidy.blogspot.com/ andhttp://whittakerstravels.blogspot.com/ We're off to the vet now for Cassie's 3rd set of puppy shots. Can't wait tosee how much she weighs now! Sending hugs your way! DebbieBill & Debbie Whittaker (and Cassie, too!)RV Having Fun Yet?

http://rollalongcassidy.blogspot.com/

Lexi the and the Easter Bunny!

Hi Chris,

Finally getting an Easter pictures of the girls and Lexi off to you! We got up early to search for treasures from the Easter Bunny, and unfortunately my picture taking ability at 7:30am is not the best!! This was a great shot of Lexi at least, with her girls in their PJ's and bed heads!!! The second pic is of Lexi and Tess the other day in the back yard, they were chasing bubbles and having an absolute blast!! I wish I could have taken some action shots, but I would have needed another set of hands. I will try again when I have a bubble blower!! Lexi is doing great and enjoying HER Rockets charge to the Memorial Cup. The Rockets won in Vancouver last night and lead the series 3 games to 2. The next game is Monday night in Kelowna. I can keep you posted should you feel the need to keep up with our Canadian sport!!! Lexi had her trip to the Vet to be fixed on Tuesday and is not real happy with us!!! She did very well and made a great impression on the Vet staff, they loved her!!! She is enjoying the extra cuddles and well deserved lounges. Tess has been extra gentle with her and loves to lay on the floor and feed her by hand. Hope you weekend is going well, love the updates on the blog!!! Thanks again for our furry family member, we are smitten!!

Sincerely, Corrine and the Peacock Clan!

Gavin makes it home to Alaska.

From Gavin's owners...




The trip home was uneventful. Gavin is a great traveler, extremely alert and inquisitive and not afraid of any thing. He's more fun than we even imagined and keeping us on our toes every waking moment. My favorite is when he brought me the door stop he had removed from the baseboard. How's that for his first retrieve? He also picks up his dinner bowl and brings it to us for a refill.

I went to take some pictures of Gavin touring Craig for the 1st time but our camera had a malfunction. The only pictures of him were last night. We'll get a new camera and get some to you later. Thanks for watching him for the last two weeks, we appreciate all that you have done.

Bill & Norma

Cassie goes to the beach... in her own words!

Dear Uncle Chris,

I just had to write you again because I’m getting to be such a BIG girl now! There has been a lot going on here especially with the UO Hawaii Club Luau last weekend. I got to help with the decorating at Mac Court and enjoyed a lot of time with family visiting from Hawaii and California. I even went to an outdoor ‘lounge’ in Eugene and ‘ate’ at a restaurant overlooking the Siuslaw River in Florence. My good manners are really paying off BIG TIME!

I’m still enjoying my clicker training and have added ‘heel’, ‘fetch’ and ‘step up’ (the motorhome steps) to my bag of tricks. It’s still a little scary to ‘step down’ the RV steps – maybe when I’m a little bigger than my now 5 ½ pounds. Mom & Dad still keep me going over all of the old skills just to keep me in practice. My ‘sit’ has improved to a big girl sit instead of my old ‘lazy puppy’ sit. I’d do just about anything to keep those kibble treats coming my way!

Today was another FIRST in my adventures – the BEACH. There was a bit of fog, but the sea birds were out in force and it was great fun to see them fly out of my way. There were also a lot of fun sand dunes to climb and I just LOVE to climb to the tops of any hill. The view is soooo much better from up high. The smells, too! I hope you enjoy these pictures even though I keep acting a pointer when I’m doing something new.

I’ll write again soon. In the meantime, I’m sending hugs your way. Cassie

Bill & Debbie Whittaker (and Cassie, too!)

Madison returns home....

It was not such a bad thing Madison coming home... After two weeks of Moppet the Bishon mix ignoring her Stan and his wife decided to return Madison home to me. In Stan's own words...

Chris: Maddy is a wonderful dog, just as you said. She is loving and smart and has tried hard to fit into our home. However we must return her to you. Moppet refuses to have anything to do with Maddy; she won't even touch a toy with which Maddy has played and in many ways, rather than being happier, as we had hoped, Moppet shows that she is perfectly miserable and goes out of her way to avoid Maddy.

As Madison is 8 years old she also needed to be spayed, have her teeth cleaned and a minor ear infection which has been taken care of. Stan and his wife (on a limited income) decided it was beyond there means and as much as Maddy tried to play with Moppet she would have nothing to do with her.. Madison is a wonderful dog in need of a great retirement home. I have a few retired Champion Westies and Norwich who are in need of wonderful retirement homes, do you know anyone your willing to recommend? If so please feel free to ask them to contact me and maybe we can make a match!

Gavin heads to Alaska!

After a two week tour of the NW Bill and Norma stopped off to pick up there new puppy Gavin, returning to Seattle for a few days before they head for home. Gavin was very excited (like he always is) for a new adventure. We look forward to updates, progress reports and pictures.

Take care little buddy! We miss you..

Pipers ears go up!

For Pipers owner Chace and family...

Hey Chris!

I wanted to let you know that Piper's check out went well, she is very healthy :)She has discovered that she loves going on walks, although she was very stubborn at first. Then she realized that it was in her best interest due to the unlimited number of new smells she could discover!

Chace Nicole Kloppenburg

Happy Easter Cassie!

In the words of Cassies new owners...

Hi Chris – We just had to send along a few pics of this weekend’s activities and bring you up to date on Cassie’s progress. What fun we’ve been having! Cassie has really taken to clicker training and is sitting (automatically at doors and upon request), drops things out of her mouth upon request, comes when called, and walks along quite well on a leash (even though she sometimes puts on the brakes if she has a mind to go in a different direction). WOW! All this at now only 10 weeks old! Do you breed the best or what? What talent!! Even our vet was impressed!The ‘sitting’ has really come in handy for food time and for posing for photos as she did this weekend for her ‘cousin’ Brian’s cell phone photo (immediately sent out to ALL of his young friends). It was so special to have him and my sister Vicki drive down from WA for a visit to meet and greet the new baby. Cassie’s ears went straight up Sunday morning and seem to be staying that way. Here’s the proof with her very proud auntie. While it’s nothing new for Florence, Cassie had her first rainy day Easter Egg hunt this morning courtesy of her Aunt Carol’s early morning ‘Easter Bunny’ activities. Eggs were rolling and wobbling everywhere but Cassie kept up with each and every one of them.We can’t THANK YOU enough for the wonderful job you did with these little ones! Cassie has been an absolutely joyful addition to our family!

Hugs to you! Debbie & Bill

Bill & Debbie Whittaker (and Cassie, too!)

The snow is finally melting in the Great White North.

Spring has finally come to the Great White North...

As you may or may not know Hockey is the sport of choice in Canada so Canadians spend most of the time they are not covered in snow cheering for hockey and this other odd sport that I just will never understand curling... If you have ever come across it on the sports channels it just has to be right up there with watching the grass grow... I do however have to credit there Kelowna Rockets (which is where Lexi lives now) with beating our Tri-City Americans in the first round of the WHL play off's.

Here you will see Lexi and her favorite buddy Tess trying to get the grass to grow and a quick sip of water for Lexi. The other picture is of the neighborhood children trying to teach Lexi to play the Canadian National sport of Hockey. Tess's mother Corrine has threatened me with buying a Rockets jersey for Lexi but as I have explained she is an all American and will not stand for such punishment!

I do want to continue to thank Corrine, Brent and her two daughters for taking such great care of Lexi.. Happy Canadian Easter today as well EH?!

Henri and the Bunnyfest

In the words of Henri's owner Ella...

Greetings Friends and Family,

Henri is growing up fast. He has really started to fill out his adolescent frame, becoming quite a handsome little man. It is still hard to believe he has been so sick, you wouldn't know it by looking at him---until you see his ziplock bag of medications. He did very well on his first drug reduction which was a cyclosporine reduction. His hematocrit, at last check, was 42%. Go Henri!! His next drug reduction will be in about a week and will be a reduction in his prednisone dose. Henri's internist told us this week, that relapse risk is not more at the beginning than at the end of the weaning process, it can happen at anytime if the immune system has not stabilized. Mommy was hoping that the risk was less as time went on---So continue to pray for: Good Labs. No Relapse.Henri is still very busy learning about the world around him. This week he discovered dental floss. I was working on the computer in our office when Bella came in and started barking at me. Bella has been known to tattle on Henri when he is getting into trouble but I didn't remember that. After a few minutes, I heard Henri barking in the bathroom and suddenly I realized he was up to something. The floss must have fallen on the floor and Henri had somehow managed to unroll it all over himself. He looked like a white ball of yarn---he was having so much fun. I wish I would have remembered the camera...darn.Henri has received so many bunnies from his Grandmother and friends, I often mistake one of the white bunnies for one of my furkids. I was trying to pickup the stuffed bunnies that were all over the house the other day and realized I was about to grab Henri. As you can see from the attached photos, it is often difficult to find Henri in his piles of bunnies. It's a "Where's Waldo" game but with Henri.Thank you for praying and thinking of our baby Henri. We send well-wishes to the new family that adopted Henri's Grandmother, Madison. We hope Madison's retirement years are filled with lots of love, treats, walks, and everything good in life. Henri sends kisses to Grandma Maddy.

Sincerely,Ella, Jeff, Bella, and Baby Henri

Ch. O Mi Gracious Madison Can Do (Maddy) Retires...

Today was a very heart felt day for me.. As time goes by my retired champions deserve a home where they can relax and enjoy couch time for the rest of there lives.

Rosalie and Stan came from Bellingham yesterday to make a new addition to there family. Moppet, their 7 year old Bishon mix needed a friend and since she was already partial to Westies they had owned through the years we thought this would be a perfect match!

As you can see in the picture there was little excitement by either dog as neither were looking forward to the long drive home...hehe Moppet and Maddy got along just fine and there owners were very excited to have Maddy as a new family member. I trust after the adjustment period they will be one big happy family!

Take Care Madison, I will always miss and love you..

Cassie writes home...

Cassie writes..

Dear Uncle Chris,

I just had to write and tell you about the adventures that have been filling my life since I left my WONDERFUL first home with you on Sunday! While I miss you a bunch, I’ve been seeing a whole lot of new things and meeting a lot of fun people. I’ve even become quite a lap dog – a good thing because I couldn’t reach the keyboard without being on Mom’s lap. ;-) In fact her lap was even better for my first Skype call to some friends in Missouri. They could see me and I could see them. What fun!While most puppies wouldn’t relish a VERY long road trip as a novice traveler, I had quite a time and didn’t even get ‘car’ sick. I had my cozy little den and snuggle puppy for quiet times and I got to see out of the BIG windows. You know, that’s the absolute best way to see horses and cows and sheep – from way up high!. Some big truck drivers even honked their air horns at me when I waved at them. Once we got to the non-rolling house in Florence, I had a great time exploring all of the nooks and crannies and even found my dinner cupboard without any help at all. You can see by the picture that I’m making myself quite at home in my new digs. As long as I have lots of love and a little food, I’m a very happy girl! I even found a playmate right here at home. While I’m certain that the reflection is really Gavin or Piper and not a reflection at all, Mom & Dad just laugh at my antics and get out the Windex.I’ll write more later, but it’s time for me to hit my potty spot right now. I just love the pea gravel because it crunches and flies all over the place when I scratch at it. Hugs to you! From your niece Cassie PS: How’s this for a full name: White Diamond Rollalong Cassidy? The name kind of says it all, doesn’t it?

Bill & Debbie Whittaker (and Cassie, too!)

Piper goes home...

In the words of Pipers new owners...

Hi Chris!

Just wanted to report back to you about our little girl :) She did wonderfully on the ride back and is fitting in with the fam like she has been here forever! We are still deciding on name. Today we are picking out some stylish necessities for her. Potty training is going well too. When it gets to the point she is going outside we were thinking of training her to go in one spot. Any suggestions for doing that?We are so grateful for such a happy/healthy/well adjusted puppy! Thank you so much!

Chace

Puppy pickup weekend!

It was puppy pick up day this weekend..

On the bottom (darn computer software!!) is Chace Kloppenburg and her brother from Mercer Island Washington. Chace and her family have been waiting some time for new little girl, I do mean family. This is a very close family all living within a few miles of each other and the puppy will be shared amongst everyone... I love to hear that a family is so close no matter the ages and interests...

On the top are Debbie and Bill Whittaker a retired couple based out of Florance Oregon. I mention based because this is one well traveled pair, driving North America for over two years seeing what our Continent has to offer. I had the pleasure to share breakfast wit the two of them at a local restaurant this morning. Its a good thing the service was slow because we had plenty talk about! What a nice couple...

You maybe wondering about little Gavin... His parents were hear as well to visit. There also retired living on an island in Alaska here seeing friends and relatives in the NW. They will be back for Gavin in two weeks then fly home. Also a wonderful couple!

Bath time for Haley's puppies!

I was able to recruit a photography assistant so it's picture time once again!

At 9 weeks old it's just a few days before each puppies very excited owners come for there puppies. I really wanted to keep a puppy from this litter as I have been waiting almost three years to do this breeding between Jack and Haley. They both came from the Lymehills kennels in Scotland and John Wilson as there breeder but I just don't have the room at this time so there will be a few high quality pet puppies leaving this weekend.

Each puppy was quite cooperative... well except for one of the girls but I think she was pretty worn out from playing with her litter mates.

In descending order we have the bigger of the two girls, the smaller of the two girls and at the bottom is the boy. Gavin(as his new owners from Alaska have named him) Is the favorite around here.