Things are going well with our family.  My husband is still away on deployment, and I am now 23 weeks pregnant.  While prepping for the addition of our baby, we are debating on the type of vehicle to get to transport all our "kids" around.  I take Trump and Tully to the park almost every day, and now I have stopped working, so they get most of my time.  We will probably get a mini-van so there is enough space for all of us, and the dogs can make a mess of the back. 

Tully got spayed yesterday, and I picked her up this morning.  She did really well, and had a little bruising around the incision.  The doctor and nurse said that she was the best Weimaraner that they have ever had in their clinic, and were a little saddened that I will not be breeding her.  Like I have told you before, her temperment is just so atypical of a Weimaraner.  She is very calm and almost submissive, and is a total lover.  She doesn't fetch, but really likes chewing on toys.  She seems to march to the beat of her own drum and likes to explore.  She is not as engaging as Trump in playful activities, but just prefers to snuggle or be near to me.  She is very vocal, and likes to tell me about every opinion she has.  She will just ramble on mumbling and making funny sounds and I can tell she is trying to tell me something.  This morning when I got her home she just sat down in front of me as I pet her and she whined and carried on as to tell me all about her surgery and gain my sympothy.  She is so cute!

Trump and Tully still sleep in the same crate together, which they love.  They are very good about going in their bed when I tell them to.  I have also taught them to lay on the rug by the kitchen door any time that I am eating.  They sit very well when I ask, and Tully is finally starting to come when called.  Being pregnant, I am having a tough time walking the dogs together, and they both pull a lot.  I got them a Haltie, which takes them about a minute to get used to when I put it on, but really helps keep them from pulling while I walk them.  It is a life-saver!  Other than that, the problems I am having are digging, and chewing on the house and cedar fence.  I bury their poop in the holes in hopes they won't re-dig, but it doesn't work.  Also, although they have about 30 toys outside, they just have to chew something they are not supposed to.  Perhaps now that I am home every day they won't be getting into so much trouble . 

Tully is about 40lbs now, and looks really good!  Trump is about 50lbs.  They are quite the pair, and everyone who sees them complements me on how gorgeous they are.  Tully really is striking looking, and when people meet her, they instantly wish she was their dog.  This was one of the hangups that I was having about getting Tully spayed, because everyone who knows anything about dogs was urging me to allow her to reproduce in the future.  I knew it was the best thing for us and her to do it though because with a baby on the way and two dogs already, there is no way we would have the room or the time to have little pups running around.  Tully had not had her first heat yet, but Trump has already taken a liking to jumping on top of her.  We knew it was the right time to get her fixed, but now that it is complete, I can't help but feel a little guilty about not only putting her through surgery, but taking away her ability to ever reproduce .  Perhaps you could shed some light on this for me and reassure me that I did the right thing.  Maybe since I am pregnant I am a little more emotional about this stuff right now.

Thank you so much Shela for giving us such a wonderful, beautiful dog!

Cordially,

Laura Marino

I am so sorry that it has been so long since I have kept in touch.  So much has gone on in the past few months, it has been crazy!  My husband Keith deployed to Japan for 6 months beginning right after Thanksgiving, and right before he left we found out that I am pregnant!  We are so excited to become parents of the human variety :)  I am in my 15th week now, and am feeling really good. 

We love Tully so much.  She is very precious and has a very unique personality.  Tully acts like she is a princess and always wants to be close to me.  It really helps to have our other puppy Trump, because they keep each other company, and make for great playmates!  I have crate trained them both, although it took Tully a long time to stop having accidents in the house.  She is broken now, so we are thrilled about that!  Everyone who meets Tully thinks that she is a very submissive, quiet girl because she holds her ears down when she meets a new person, and doesn't get riled up when you pet her.  She just lounges and relaxes.  My other dog Trump is a maniac for attention and tramples and jumps on everyone!  He doesn't like Tully getting attention so any time she is getting pet or talked to, Trump has to come over and flex his dominance by pulling her to the floor with his front leg.  He likes standing in front and on top of her.  We know this is because he is male, and he was the first in the house, so he thinks he is in charge of her.  Tully sure can hold her own with Trump though!  She shows her teeth and they go at it wrestling and having fun. 

Tully is quite the beefcake.  She is just very solid, and very strong.  One thing that is very interesting that I have never seen in another dog before is what happens when Tully loses her balance and falls off something.  When she falls down, she doesn't try to correct herself and lands in really awkward positions!  When Trump and her are wrestling on the couch, she often gets pushed off and lands straight on her back.  Sometimes too when she is trying to climb things and falls, she doesn't try to twist around to land on her feet, but just allows her body weight to send her crashing to the ground.  It's very peculiar.  Also, she keeps her mouth cocked open a little bit all the time.  She doesn't like to close her mouth completely.  Especially if she is being pet.  Then she opens her mouth half way.  It's very odd but cute.  I have been having problems with Tully's ears.  I think it is just somethi ng she will always have becasue they get irritated very easily.  I have to clean them often so she doesn't get an infection.  They are regularly filled with brown wax and stink. 

I take the dogs to the park across the street about 3 times a weeks where they go crazy running around!  They love running and getting into puddles.  Usually I have to put them in their crate to dry off when we get home so they don't get mud everywhere.  Tully keeps her head in the grass most of the time she runs around.  She is so interested in anything she can put in her mouth.  She is not at all interested in fetching balls.  I throw it for Trump and Tully keeps checking out the things in the grass while Trump goes charging after the ball.  She sometimes likes to chase Trump, just not the ball.  Tully and Trump are really big into chewing and digging right now.  We have plenty of chewed up siding, sheetrock and molding from the past few months, so my husband is going to have a lot of repairs to do when he gets home in June. 

I will keep you posted on Tully and see how things go will the dogs once I get a really big belly!

Codially,

Laura Marino

Laura & Keith

of Sedro Wooley, Washington

Presents their newest addition....

"Tully"

Formerly known as Gizelle!

Hey this is Tully speaking to you and I have a good speaker too!  Just ask my new Mom & Dad whom I love almost as much as my Vizsla brother that is named Trump.  Hey did you notice both our names start with a "T".  That is pretty cool don't you think?

As most of you know I road on over to Western Washington with Phil, Connie, and Siena.  We had a pretty good trip and girls played and slept mostly.   At first when we left the Nielsen home we kind pitched a fit but soon we just started enjoying each other. 

Siena wasn't as fortunate as I am because she didn't have a brother or sister waiting for her arrival.  I think Trump and I are going to have a great time.  Can you imagine what we will be able to think to do??? 

Well I hope you enjoy my pictures with my Dad and brother.  He we look pretty good together don't you think?

   When we first picked up our pup from Phil and Connie, we instantly fell in love!  She is so cute, and her color is such a contrast from our Vizsla Trump.     Trump was so excited to see her, he tried to get out of his seatbelt in the back seat to give her kisses as she sat on my lap.  We decided we didn't like Gizelle for her!  We finally settled on Tully, like the coffee.  Tully is far different than Trump was when we first got him.  She was not even remotely interested in her crate, and yelped an ear-peircing cry all night.

Breeder's comment:  This is interesting because Phil and Connie said the two settled in the crate for the trip.  Storm has an ear-piercing cry so Tully comes by that naturally. 

Keiffer and I had to wear earplugs, because she just would not stop.  We didn't get frustrated with her.  Keiffer could not sleep so he got up at 2 am and took Tully out of her crate and slept with her in his arms on the couch.  Trump on the other hand loved his crate instantly. 

   Today was a pretty good first day.  Tully had 2 accidents, but for the most part she was really good about going outside.  It helps that she has Trump to follow around to show her what to do.  Tully loves to eat!  When we put food out she devours it like she's never eaten before!  Breeder's comment:  We did advice that they work quickly to slow down Tully's gulping habit it as it can bring on bloat.  Also, she had not eaten much on the trip which is the best way to travel.  There is less chance of getting stress diarreha or car sickness if they don't eat much.  It is so funny because we have a large raised feeding dish for Trump and a small one for Tully, but they both eat from the wrong one! Pictured at the top righthand side of the page. Tully loves to stand up to reach her food, and Trump likes to bend over to eat.  Strange pups!  Trump and Tully have really been wearing each other out today.  They wrestled until they were tired, then they laid next to each other chewing on their bully sticks.  I can tell that they are going to be two peas in a pod!

   We will keep you posted on Tully's progress, and send pictures.  Thank you so much for our little bundle of joy!

Cordially,

Laura Marino   11/12/2007

Thank you so much for your advice.  I had a boxer, so I am familiar with bloat.  I will be sure to slow down Tully's eating, and I do still have the link to that feeding dish with the prongs.  I will also make sure that she does not eat from Trump's raised dish. 

Tully did a lot better with the crate last night.  We set it out in the entry way surrounded by all her toys, and using a baby gate, we enclosed a "play area", where we placed both the pups throughout the day.  Both Trump and Tully went in and out of the crate, and when it came time for bedtime, we put Tully in the crate then laid Trump's bed next to the door, so Tully wouldn't feel alone.  It worked for about 2 hours, then Tully started up with her squeeling.  Once again, Keiffer got up and went down to sleep with the dogs.  Apparently he needs new earplugs because her whining doesn't keep me up like it does him.  I can hear through my earplugs slightly, and do wake up periodically, but Keiffer just cannot get to sleep at all.  He stayed home with them all day today, and I got an e-mail that there was some great progress today.  He took her to work for an hour, and left Trump and her in the c ar and said they just snuggled, and were really good.  Trump showed Tully how to use the doggy door, and how to sit at the back door and whine when she needs to go potty!  Tomorrow I am going to try not giving her any bully sticks or peanut butter covered kongs unless I put her in her crate.  I think that will help with her associating that her crate is a good place to be.  I think that our biggest obstacle will be getting Keiffer to stop taking Tully out of her crate in the middle of the night.  I will put my foot down on that one tonight:)  I will keep you posted.

Laura--11/13/2007

Breeder's Comment:  It is hard to put into a very few words the reason spaying and neutering is the right decision. 1.  For your pet's health and well being it is the right decision.  2.  Shelter's are filled with puppies born simply because females and males were intact.  3.  The responsibility that goes along with raising puppies is huge.  Each puppy needs a good home.  That is not as easy as it might sound.  It takes a great deal of dedication to improving the breed.  All of this requires, time, money, commitment, and dedication to improving the breed.  Top Ten Reasons to Spay & Neuter!