I wanted to drop a line and let you know how Annie is doing in her new home. She has been here for about a month and a half now and the whole family, with exception of the three cats, is all settled in. Annie has been an incredibly good girl and gets along great with both myself and my daughter and we have been having a great time playing ball at the tennis court and going to obedience class. Our trainer has a full agility course in his back yard, and on Saturday the whole class is going there to play. Annie's favorite activity is helping rake leaves. And she actually helps by stretching her front legs in front of her and moving backwards, shuffling the leaves into a nice pile and of course, like all kids, then proceeds to jump around in the pile. We are trying to put the command "rake" to the action so we can show off her funny trick. Annie has amazed us with the speed with which she learns. Every time I choose a new command to teach her, she seems to pick it up in a training session or two. She has gone from pulling me down the street when we are out on a walk to heeling beautifully, and from chasing squirrels to being able to do a 15-minute or more "down-stay" in the middle of a park full of squirrels and passing people. The cats are taking it slow getting to know her, and I am allowing them to decide on when to make the next move, but we are progressing. With a baby gate between them, Annie now sits quietly when they are in sight, and the cats have been getting closer and closer. One cat even jumps the gate and they sit and watch each other from a distance. Annie just turned 11 months old last week and must be having a growth spurt because she has gained 15 pounds since she we got her about 7 weeks ago. The vet says that this is a healthy amount of growth and we should expect to have a 90 pound girl by the time she finishes growing and filling out. Luckily, she has a thin bone structure and is very muscular which should allow her joints to easily support her weight. My daughter has decided that Annie is her "bigger but younger sister" and is busy thinking up ideas about how we can celebrate Annie's first birthday in a few weeks. Thank you all at VGSR for the work that you do and for helping bring Annie into our family. We absolute adore her and couldn't have asked for a sweeter pooch.

Lisa Stephenson