Happy Beginnings

One of our favorite parts of raising our puppies is seeing them off to their new lives successfully.

In all the fun and chaos of selecting puppies and going over all the info, we didn’t get photos of everyone. But Rich and Addie enjoyed meeting everyone.

Back at home, the rest of us got photos and a report after nearly every appointment: who went home with who, how it went, great impressions of the families.

When we have heard about your last dog, your family, how you plan to take your dog to work or work from home with your new puppy or have a mother-in-law or dog sitter lined up, along with your cat and kids and hiking trips and soccer games…. and then we send our babies to their forever homes with you, you become family.

Whether you are starting your journey with Red River Retrievers or coming back for your 2nd or 3rd, we feel confidant that every single one of our puppies has gone home to an amazing life.

Meeting everyone is the icing on the cake of each “puppy season.” While we don’t covet the long drive, those of us at home who only get to hear about it second hand are a little envious of the one who get to send them off.

We love hearing about how the family introductions are going, how nighttime and house training are working out, etc. We love getting snapshots of the puppies’ new lives.

We have heard from most everyone, and things seem to be going well. Lots of sweet cuddles and shenanigans.

Our house seems a little quiet, but we are snuggling our big babies a lot more again, which they like.

We are also enjoying a crazy Artic blast down here in the South. The dogs think snow is great fun. Naia tries to catch every snowball!

Snuggle up with your fur babies, stay warm, and send us an update from time to time.

Happy Ending for us. Happy Beginning to you!

Meet Miles

Miles is our new resident stud. He was adopted from an all-white litter and lineage. He is a delightful playful boy, grown up but still mostly puppy at heart. I have never met a dog who loved his toys so much. He might just retrieve all day and night if we wanted to keep at it that long. Sometimes he cannot make up his mind about which toy to play with and tries really hard to carry several at once. Of course, all puppies have their naughty moments. But this guy is just so adorable and endearing. When caught with something he sneaked out of the trash, he looks up with his expressive “eyebrows” and nobody can be mad at him. I have been known to say he is the cutest naughty boy ever. Of course, the naughty episodes are mostly behind us now.

Have I mentioned how much Miles loves to play? He found the elbow joint of a PVC pipe in my husband’s pile behind our shop building, and brought it to me to retrieve. The easiest way for him to hold it… made him look like an elephant. He keeps us in stitches with his hilarious antics. He enjoys hide-and-seek (we hide and then call him, and he comes to find us) and complex retrieves. In that game, he sits while I toss three of his toys in different directions. Then I send him toward one, and he brings them back one by one. Only sometimes, he tries to hold them all at once. If nobody can play right then, Miles is ok with entertaining himself. He may even play fetch, tossing his toy in the air and catching it, or squeaking it. My seven-year-old has complained that I buy more toys for Miles than I do for him!

Miles especially loves his buddy Naia and currently misses her while she is spending most of her time with her puppies. He takes a long walk with Rich every afternoon and most mornings, or even runs behind the four-wheeler in a pasture nearby. He gets toys one at a time out of his basket on top of his crate and brings them to us to play. But he will sure be glad when Naia is more available again. Oh, and have I mentioned how SOFT he is?

Miles’ favorite way to spend the evening has not changed since he was a puppy. He just takes up more space now. He is medium-small for a male lab at 65 lbs. He is an English lab, not as stocky as some, but more stocky than a typical American lab. Our girls are all American, so there body style of their puppies should be a really nice, moderate conformation.