Ryan, Raleigh, NC

(Stella is from the M litter)

UPDATE

Hi Carrie,

Figured it was time to send the good folks and hounds and Hillview an update on Stella as well as seeing how things are going out there with you guys. First of all, we have moved to FL within the last 6 weeks as I am now stationed down here. Stella made the trip with me the whole way riding shotgun in the Penske truck, looking and acting bored the whole time. (See picture) She loves it here FL as she immediately let it be known that she was in charge of the neighborhood and all things including other dogs and children must go through her first. Once again, very alpha female. She is still obsessed with chasing the ball, especially when it is launched from the Chuck-It! Even the neighborhood kids get involved and ask to play ball with Stella. (picture) She is incredibly patient and now that she is older, she has started to be very aware and motherly to the little ones that come by and hang out. On several occasions, one curious child will start to wander off and Stella goes and starts to herd them back to the safety of the "pack" with gentle nudges and face licks. I have been asked by parents were she learned to do that, my only reply is that's Stella and she's awesome.

She has gone through another heat which was much more mild than first one, she seemed to realize that it was a natural deal and just rolled with of course it did nothing to slow her down or burn off an energy, very little does these days. Her constant curiosity and willingness to go anywhere is fantastic. She loves riding in the car,(picture) and loves to howl, literally howl, when fire trucks go by. It is so funny it makes me laugh to the point of tears. I don't know where she got the idea, but for some reason Stella loves my motorcycle(picture). She goes and checks on it every morning and loves to "escort" it up the driveway when I come home. She will plop herself down by it constantly and gets nothing but sheer joy from barking at it when I rev the engine. However, Stella has discovered the Gulf of Mexico and the waves it produces are the most fun she has ever had. She usually goes to the beach once a week for a couple hours and she chases the ball into the Gulf, down the beach, under the water, and all over the place. All with a gigantic grin and boundless energy. And of course, I get asked every time where I got such a well behaved and pretty dog and of course every time I extol the awesomeness of Hillview Kennels.

Anyway, hope all is well with you guys, always enjoy the newsletter and seeing how the program is going. Take care, and don't be surprised when Stella runs the state of Florida

--Ryan

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Carrie!
Great to hear from you, and thanks for adding us to the newsletter mailing list. Its pretty cool in my opinion. I should have returned your email much sooner however the last 6 months have been crazy busy for Noel and I. But enough nonsense about the dumb humans, lets get to the point of the email, Stella. Stella is friggin awesome! She is so much fun to have around, all 200 pounds of energy packed into a 55 pound body. At 9 months she is really starting to come into her own in life and settling into her role and the alpha female, big boss, leader, and all around hot stuff. You weren't joking almost a year ago about how Kometa's puppies have a high prey drive. There is not much that moves in our yard, much less the neighborhood that Stella isn't aware of. She still terrorizes the cat a little bit, but her favorite targets to run down are the chickens. Every morning there is 1 or 2 that have hopped the fence and Stella witnesses this egregious violation through the window and immediately wakes me up with a flying leap to my head begging to be let out. The even cooler part than her ridiculous fast speed and lightning fast reflexes and turn on a dime coordination, is when she finally runs down the chicken, she has a pretty soft mouth when corralling them. Stella is in no mood to kill the chickens, just chase them, and once she catches them, they are immediately released to go scurrying off again for her enjoyment. Its and absolute riot to watch, its actually brought tears to my eyes a couple times.

Stella loves to play tug of war, she and I have trained each other into a little game we call "Rocket". I have a 2 foot piece of climbing rope with knots tied in it that I walk away from her with, all the while she stays put. At the "Rocket!" call she assumes the characteristics of a missile and comes flying across the yard after the rope in my hand. She attacks it with unrelenting vigor and enthusiasm. We can play for hours until she gets too hot and jumps in her pool and calls it quits. However,"Rocket" pales in comparison to chasing tennis balls, good grief she loves to chase tennis balls! Indoors, outdoors, at the pond, in the yard , wherever. Our house has probably a dozen tennis balls and ropes laying around. She thoroughly enjoys running all over, on top and in between the kids playground equipment at the park by the house. Up the stairs on the slide only to sit for a quick moment and pose regally then back down again to run between the swings in a serpentine style, we just do 3 out the 4 swings for some reason. She loves to go flying and leaping over the teeter-totter and making 4G turns in the mulch as she accelerates past the slide. I am always impressed with her agility, balance and natural curiosity to try new things.

Her obedience is coming along very well, I get compliments on how well behaved she is all the time. But those compliments are out numbered easily 4-1 by all the compliments I receive on what a gorgeous dog Stella has become. Of course my response, is "duh". We usually go running at least 4 mornings a week and she finds nothing but joy in the activity. She loves to get in water, up to a point, and the fun of playing with my sisters yellow lab Wyatt who is just a couple months younger is probably her favorite social activity.

All in all, Stella is fantastic and is becoming a more and more wonderful dog every day. Not a day passes that she doesn't make me laugh out loud. I have attached some pictures from the last six months, hope you enjoy them as much as we do. Take care, always good to hear from you and Hillview gang

Ryan, Raleigh, NC