Playdate...

Okay - let me just say now that I know there are too many photos in this entry...but you gotta admit, these pups are the cutest! And I have another reason...our new friends, Paul and Donna, aka (puppy) Carmela's dad and mom, wanted me to send them my pictures and this way I could do two things at once...hmmmm...multi-tasking?

Basically the parents of three puppies converged at the breeder's house to get the munchkins together...Orion, Carmela jr and Abby. Abby actually now belongs to the breeder, Shalein, so I guess that means she 'hosted' the event.

Orion sees his mom (Carmela) and gets very excited...
Nose to nose with dad - Tonka...

Carmela and Orion get re-acquainted.

Abby decides to let Orion know who's boss...and Tonka helps out.

...and now there are three...little Carmela arrives and is 'put in her place'...

...three siblings getting re-acquainted...Carmela is wearing the yellow collar (and not clipped ears), Abby is in red and Orion is in black...

I thought this was a great shot of 'mom' with her three kids...

...some photos need no caption!

Puppy Carmela's new daddy, Paul...with Amanda

Tonka, with all of his 170 pounds decided to sit on Paul's chair...not sure there was room for two!

...the whole doggy family...with breeder Shalein and Amanda...

We discovered that Orion does, indeed, love water - not only to drink, but also to play in.

Tonka, a bit too rambuctious, is relegated to the side yard while Carmela watches over her brood...

The pups love playing together...

...exploring the 'mountain' behind the yard...

We discovered that Orion and Carmela are climbers...agility training in their futures? Amanda poised to catch Orion before he can jump to the ground on his own...this to protect his still-developing shoulders...

Carmela striking an irresistable pose in the yellow flowers...doting dad get close to 'catch' her if she decides to jump.

Shalein decided to let Tonka out again...trusting the four of us to supervise.

We loved watching the whole family playing together, and out came the cameras...

Tonka and Carmela get going...and the scene was crazy when Shalein returned to find us all behind our cameras with our puppies at risk of being trampled by the 'giant' Tonka - ummm, I think she'll never do that again!

In fact she decided the puppies at played enough - and out came the bones - here is the trio, playing separately...

Orion, striking a handsome pose...

Carmela, still in the playful mood, took Orion's bone and he decided to get it back!

Orion and Abby exchanged bones...a few times!

We had a blast and the parents parted with promises to set another playdate and next time far enough in advance to include the other 'local' puppy...