My New Home In Boise, Idaho

. Well, the Lady was right - the Schultz family came back early this morning. And they were all super crazy to see me again. This is Aubrey, she smells like she's 12. She sure is a crazy pup, always making everyone laugh. If you look closely at my belly, you can see a small scar. I had an umbilical hernia and the Lady thought it was best to have it fixed up before going to my new home. It's no big deal though, a few stitches, 10 days of rest, and I'll be ready to chew on anything again.

This is Taylor, at 14 she's the oldest pup of the pack. This picture was taken just before putting me into their van. Wow! My last time ever being at Thornwood Labradors - I sure am going to miss the Lady, my Dad (Score), my Mom (Shadow), 45 of my Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins, and those 17 goofy looking Peacocks running around everywhere.

That's me, in the van, ready for a 9 hour roadtrip to my new home. If only I knew what was ahead of me. The Boss Man drove and everyone else took turns holding me - I was a pretty popular guy that day!

Check out the Lady - she could have easily let the kids argue over who would get to be the first one to hold me, but apparently she likes me already!

What the heck is this all about? Every hour, on the hour, we would pull off to the side of the road and walk around with this stupid leash. The funny thing was that as soon as I would pee, we would get back in the van and drive for another hour.


Snack time was great! Boss Man would put me in the back of the van and make sure I would get plenty of food and water. I didn't realize that even eating lunch would be so enjoyable for the kids to watch. They even stared with enthusiasm when I pooped - sheesh!

This is Jack. He already acts like we're buddies or something. He seems to be about 7 and I'm already 8 weeks, so we're about the same age I guess. I think that since I'm a boy, and Jack's a boy, that we'll probably be good friends someday.

Wow! Now this is Hannah. She is awesome! And comfy too. She has a ton of patience for only being 9. Hannah either always knows what I'm thinking, or just always wants to hold me...either way, I'm cool with it.

This is one of my favorite pictures so far - just me and the Lady...riding shotgun! It was pretty neat when she would add herself to the rotation every couple of rounds or so.

Somewhere in the middle of nowhere, we stopped at this school yard and got out for a little stretch. It felt so good to get out of the van and run around, play, and just be a puppy.

I can remember how fun it was when the kids hid their hands and faces and I would totally sniff around their heads and lick their ears. That was so awesome!

"I-DA-HO?" Not quite sure why the Boss Man took a picture of this sign...but I remember thinking we must be close to my new home.

They wanted to stop at some family's house and show me off for a bit - they were crazy about me too! Look, they even made me a sign, "Welcome Home Gunner!"

"Home Sweet Home" I made it! It sure was a long ride - but I'm happy to be at my new home.

This is my ex-pen (exercise pen) and it sucks! I don't mind being in it if someone gets in with me. But when I'm alone, I just cry and cry and cry.

But as for my crate...I love it! Boss Man and the Lady keep it next to their bed at night and downstairs in the living room during the day.

Yep, I really think I'm gonna like it here!

Meeting My New Family

I was playing in the lady's kitchen Saturday night, when the all the racket of my Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins (more than 45 dogs total) made it clear that we had visitors. Yes! My new family, the Schultz's had finally arrived.
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They were sooooooo excited to see me, I loved it! And I was pretty "dog-gone" excited to see them - I actually peed a little bit. Chip is the dad. Check out the grip I've got on his ear...he even squealed like my sister does - it was awesome! I'm not sure, but I think he's going to be the boss-man.
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Here's the new lady, Tracy. I was a little confused because all the kids kept acting like she wouldn't like me. But she sure seemed willing to hold me tonight. And boy was it cozy hanging out in her arms. I think I heard someone say that her and I are going to be spending alot of time together when the kids are at school and the boss-man is at work. I can't wait, because she seems pretty cool.
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Wow, there are 4 kids in this family! Here I am sitting in #2's lap, while my twin sister (I know - we're NOT identical) is sitting with #3. These kids were so nice to me. Maybe it's because I'm so young, but I just could NOT help myself from chewing on their hands, all of them...hands, ears, noses, and toeses - ha! ha! ha! Now THAT was fun!
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I've got to go now. I'm gonna go spend some time with my sister. Tomorrow, I'm going to my new home with the Schultz's and I'll never see her again - I guess that's just part of that nature thing the lady always talked about.
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Here's the lady (Cheri Conway). She's the founder of Thornwood Labradors. She is so smart and has been so patient and wonderful to me. I'm gonna miss her. I love her!
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Check me out in this video. This was the first time I met my new family:

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We're Not Babies Anymore

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(This post was written through Gunner's eyes by Cheri Conway, founder of Thornwood Labradors)

Well, mommy turned on us today. I couldn't believe she did that! For days now she's been pretty stingy with the milk bar, and the lady said that there's another Nature's lesson coming. It wasn't me, honest, but I really got the point anyway. One of my sisters, and two of my brothers kinda cornered mommy, and tried to sneak a little milk from the milk bar. She suddenly turned and said the meanest things to them, and even SNAPPED at them! They told me later that they thought she was about to kill them on the spot. They just froze. Then just as suddenly, mommy went back to being her usual sweet mommy-self. It happened once or twice more, and now we all leave the milk bar alone, and mommy is happy. The lady said that that was an important lesson, and that that's why she makes us stay here until we're 8 weeks old... so that mommy can teach us that if another dog should growl at us later in our lives, we don't have to run, and we don't have to fight.... we just have to stop what we're doing! The lady said that we were ready now, and that we would be going off to our new families, and that she would really miss us. Well, SHE might, but mommy doesn't seem to care much one way or the other. The lady says that that's Nature's way, and that it makes us go on our own way in life, not stay with mommy forever. I LIKE mommy... I would be very happy to stay with her, but the lady says that wouldn't be so good, and that I'm supposed to go take care of The Schultz Family now. Mommy told me to, "Be a good puppy, study hard, and learn... but most of all, love people, like she taught me." I'm going to try HARD.

The puppy-doctor came back to check all of us really well. He said I could go on to my new family now. They are coming tomorrow. I hope they like me.

A Whole New World

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(This post was written through Gunner's eyes by Cheri Conway, founder of Thornwood Labradors)

I can see better and better every day, and it's really NEAT! Today something REALLY weird happened. I heard a sound. See, remember that I told you that I couldn't hear? I just thought that was the way of things, and nobody could hear. I was wrong! Nothing scares me, because it's so safe here, and everything is always the same routine.... but now there's so much more to know about. The lady noticed, too. She said I was about three weeks old, and that was right on time. She said now she can make 'kissy' noises at us when she takes our pictures, and get us to look at her. Seems to work, all right. One other interesting thing happened: the lady said that we were big enough now that if we fell into the water dish, we could get back out of it, so she gave us our own dish of water, and our own dish of food! She aimed our heads at the food, and WOW! All of us crammed in to munch on it. We just LOVED it!!

After that, I munched a little here and there all day, but mostly I played in the food, and slept in it. That round bowl was JUST right for curling up for a nap. Every time the lady came past, she'd scoop me up and take me out of the food dish. She said I was hogging it, and if I slept in it, no one else could eat. I didn't really care, and kept going back for naps there.

Today one of my littermates grabbed me by the ear, and really CHOMPED it! I don't know why he did that, and he said HE didn't know, either, but it sure did hurt! I screamed really loud. My mommy didn't even look up. See, usually if anything made me yell, mommy and the lady would come running to help me, but this time, when my brother chomped my ear, nobody came. It started to happen all the time now. All of us would chomp onto someone else's ear, or tail, and just drag them around, screaming bloody murder. Why didn't anyone come HELP us?? I heard the lady tell someone that it was Nature giving a Life Lesson. I didn't understand, but I know I didn't think that Nature was being very nice this time. Well, a couple of days of that I just turned around when my brother chomped my tail one afternoon and... I CHOMPED HIM RIGHT BACK! He let go. I tried that each time someone chomped me, and it always seemed to work. Everybody else was figuring out how to stop the pain, too. These days, there's still tons of play, but not nearly so much screaming. The lady said the lesson was learned, but that there were plenty more to come. Guess my mommy knew that, too, because she never stepped in to break us up, although she's be there in a heartbeat for any OTHER reason.

We play with toys now. The lady gives them to us, and we have LOTS of fun. Mostly, though, we still sleep and eat and sleep and eat and sleep and eat. We are all about five times as big as when we were born. The lady says I'm SIX times as big! I'm still smaller than the rest, but she says I'm really catching up. My puppy-doctor came today for some other reason, and the lady had him listen to my heart and really have a good look at me, because I'd been so small when I was born. He said I was perfect, and my heart sounded just fine! The lady was so happy, and gave me extra kisses. She said that there was this really neat family, The Schultz Family, that wanted me, and they didn't mind if I'd had to work extra hard to catch up. She told me that their names were Chip, Tracy, Taylor, Aubrey, Hannah, and Jackson. She said that they had been working and saving and hoping for me for a LONG time, and that I was going to be the special one chosen to be their best friend. I'm not sure what I need to learn to do that, but it sounds like a good thing, and I'm going to try REALLY hard to do it right. The lady said that they would call me 'Gunner', and now SHE calls me that, too. The thing is, that ALL of us think that our name is 'Gunner' now!

Who Are You Calling 'Runt'?

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(This post was written through Gunner's eyes by Cheri Conway, founder of Thornwood Labradors)

In the next few days, I heard the lady say that I was a little smaller that the others, but that I was strong, and had probably been 'attached' to a spot that didn't have as good a blood supply as the others. I don't know why that mattered, but the lady thought that it did. The lady said I'd only been about 10 ounces when I was born, and the others were about 15 ounces. I made my mind up right then to catch up. She said I shouldn't worry about being pushed aside by the bigger guys at the milk bar. She said that she would come often, and see that I got my share, and she did. I made her happy by always being ready to crawl and try to push my way past the others. I'd never just lie there like a lump. They kept getting bigger... but the lady said I was getting bigger even faster than they were! My eyes were still closed, but I felt all this stuff going on. The TRUTH is, that I couldn't really HEAR either, but I just knew, you know how you can just KNOW stuff? Ok, well... and some of this my mommy told me later.

That 'mommy' was always there. I didn't know then that we kids couldn't pee and poop on our own for quite a few days, and that mommy had to lick us to make it happen (and then she would EAT it.. yuck!). I heard the lady tell someone that it was because in Nature, that kept the smell down, and bad guys who wanted to eat us would have a really hard time finding us. What a good mommy! Mommy was keeping us SAFE! The lady said that we couldn't regulate our own temperatures for quite a few days, too, and if mommy didn't curl up around us and keep us warm, it could be a very sad thing. She always did. In fact, the lady almost had to drag mommy out to go potty! Mommy loved us SOOooo much. I think the lady did, too, because she changed the blankets twice a day, and weighed us to be sure we were gaining enough, and made mommy special food to keep her eating.

Something awful happened today. We all had our dewclaws cut off. It really hurt, and I moaned for the rest of the day. It felt better the next day. The lady said that she didn't like the idea much, but that almost everybody who wanted to adopt us wanted it done, and it was much harder if we waited longer than a few days after we were born to do it.

There was a kitty. The kitty kept trying to come see us, but the lady wouldn't let her. My mommy didn't want here there, either, not at first. When I got bigger, mommy let her come play with us sometimes. Mommy said that kitty had been her friend since SHE was just a baby, and that some cats would EAT a puppy, but that our cat was weird, and just loved us like we were her own babies! Silly cat.

When I was about 12 days old, my EYES OPENED! Ok, everything was a little blurry, but since I didn't have anything to compare it to, I thought it was great! I don't like the light in my face much. When the lady takes our pictures every week to send to all of our families who are waiting for us, she takes us out in the sun and puts us in a special box with pretty backgrounds. She says the sunlight is better for the pictures than the camera flash, but I don't like it. I always try to turn around and get away from it. The lady says that's Nature in action again, and wanting to avoid the light keeps all of us safe in our 'nest' instead of crawling off to explore and getting lost (and eaten!). Guess Nature is a pretty good mommy, too.

The Day I Was Born

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(This post was written through Gunner's eyes by Cheri Conway, founder of Thornwood Labradors)

I remember........actually I don't remember when, but I remember that it was so warm, dark, and SO comfy. I was never hungry or thirsty. Time didn't mean much. Actually, I never thought about time at all. Then all of a sudden there was this great big people-hand, and it grabbed me (but it didn't hurt), and pulled and pulled. I tried to hang back and stay where I was, but it pulled me out and into the light. I kept my eyes shut, but I could tell anyway. He dropped me into this other pair of hands, and they took me over to a table that was warm, these hands rubbed the heck out of me, and made me spit up all the stuff I had in my lungs. I tried to ignore them, but after a while, they made me so mad that I cried. It was only a few squeaks, but the lady said, "Sing that pretty song, baby!", and she put me into a nice warm box with some other wiggly things that I learned later were my brothers and sisters. I heard them saying that that was something called a 'C-section', and that everyone was fine, and my mommy (what was a 'mommy'?) was waking up.

Then we all took a ride in the lady's car. I heard horns honk now and then, and the lady said that didn't matter, we were still going to go around the corners REALLY slow, so that my mommy didn't bounce (still didn't know what a 'mommy' was). We stopped moving, and things opened and closed, and now we (all the brothers and sisters) were lifted into ANOTHER place. There was a heating pad in the middle of it, so that we would all pile up together, and the 'mommy' could curl around us and........... WOW! THAT'S was a mommy is for! She was tired, they said, but she licked me all over, and made me poop and pee, and then she shoved me up close to her tummy, and...... THE MILK BAR!! I didn't know that I was hungry, but I sure WAS! I can smell stuff, so I know where mommy is, and I can FEEL, too, so I always crawl towards warm things (like mommy). The lady says that's Nature, keeping us always headed towards the safety of mommy and the milk bar.