Playing with the Boys

Randall and Roman came over the other night to "show" Sailor to their friend. Sailor went out to play with them and chased them around the yard. I was laughing so hard as Sailor was running after Roman as he was almost as big as he is. Cute photos of the boys!

Muddy Dogs

Here are some snaps of the muddy dogs from last Sunday's "Swamp Swim". If you look closely, you can even see that Sailor's tongue is black with mud. It's kind of hard to see on him, but what a mess! Also, not sure who the random retreiver is - just another dog at the dog park, but he managed to stay clean!

Water Dog

Sailor went to the dog park yesterday with his buddies, the Bernese Mountain dogs Buckley (who is 5) and Penelope (who is 17 weeks). All was well until Buckley found a black, muddy, smelly swamp and lead all three dogs into it where they wallowed around. UGH! It reeked like primordial ooze! Double UGH! We decided in order to wash Sailor, it was time for a swim in the lake. The boat's in the water now, so we figured if he took off, we could catch him. We figured that since he was swimming at day care, he would be one heck of a swimmer. Not so much! NO need to fear as he became a total baby. We put him on a long lead as we figured since he's swimming at day care he would take to it and then maybe take off and not realize where the shore is.

Todd put his waders on and then walked him in, which he was fine and you could see the mud coming off around him like an oil slick! Then we took him out deeper where he had to paddle and he swam right to the dock and wrapped his arms around the post. Aww. Our poor baby.

We didn't want to traumatize him, so we let him swim back to shore. We will keep trying to get him comfortable in the water and we know he'll get used to it over time and his own pace. After all, he is a WATER dog!

Famous Newfies

You may wonder where we got the name Sailor. Well, I did some research and found all these famous Newfies. It's interesting to see that Lord Byron and Emily Dickinson were among some of the astute Newfie owners. I found Sailor's name on this list and thought it would fit him since we live on a lake. Enjoy reading this list of famous owners and their Newfies. . ..

Adam - Seaward's Blackbeard - 1984 Best in Show winner at the Westminster Dog Show
Boatswain - pet of English poet Lord Byron and the subject of his poem Epitaph to a Dog
Brumus - Robert F. Kennedy's dog
Brutus- first dog to complete the Appalachian Mountain Club's "Winter 48", climbing all 48 peaks in one calendar winter
Canton and Sailor - A female and male pup aboard a foundering British ship in Maryland that were bred with retrievers to form the Chesapeake Bay Retriever [13]
Carlo - Emily Dickinson's dog
Faithful - First dog of President Ulysses S. Grant[14]
Frank - Unofficial mascot of the Orphan Brigade during the American Civil War[15]
Gander Canadian war hero dog who saved the lives of many soldiers in the second world war in Hong Kong Island.[1]
Hector - First dog of President Rutherford B. Hayes[14]
Josh - Darbydale's All Rise Pouchcove - 2004 Best in Show winner at the Westminster Dog Show Lara - First dog of President James Buchanan[14]
Mother Teresa - The major canine character in the movie Must Love Dogs
Pilot - pet of Edward Fairfax Rochester in Jane Eyre - first described in chapter 12
Pluto - pet of the Croatian operatic soprano Ilma de Murska, which used to dine at table with her and was trained to eat a cooked fowl from a place setting without dripping gravy on the tablecloth.[citation needed] Pluto lived in the 1860s.
Robbe - dog of Richard Wagner who accompanied him on his flight from his creditors from Riga on a fishing boat, which inspired the opera The Flying Dutchman.[citation needed]
Russ - last dog of Richard Wagner, buried at the feet of his master in the composer's tomb in the park of Villa Wahnfried in Bayreuth, under his own plaque: "Here rests and watches Wagner's Russ."
Sable Chief - mascot of The Royal Newfoundland Regiment
Sgt. Gander the Mascot of the Royal Rifles of Canada who was killed in action at the Battle of Hong Kong when he carried a grenade away from wounded soldiers. For this he was awarded the PDSA Dickin Medal retroactively in 2000
Seaman - pet of Meriwether Lewis
Jack - national champion and gold medalist, resident of Cary, North Carolina. In an attempt to gain media attention, local residents insisted that he was even the most beautiful dog in the world.
Sirius - dog of Maggie in the book Star in the Storm
Thunder- from the book Thunder from the Sea
Jim (Effrijim)- from the book You Slay Me (Aisling Grey Series)
Swansea Jack- Often mistaken for a flat-coated retriever as the Newfoundland breed has gotten much larger)
Nana- Pet of the Darling family in the play Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie

Eating Together

Thought this was a cute photo of Osa and Mia the cat eating together. Luckily Sailor is probably outside at the moment or all the food would be gone!