Tuesday, October 21, 2008

At Long Last

She's here. I've been waiting for a whole year but today Tara, 8 weeks old, came at last. It's been a looooooooong pregnancy but very much worth the wait.
Tara is a Kooikerdog, a very old Dutch dog breed. They were painted many a time by the well known Dutch Master Jan Steen (1626 - 1679).
Kooikerdogs are working dogs; once upon a time they were used to lure ducks into a cage (kooi). As soon as the ducks were in the cage it would be closed and the ducks be killed and eaten.

Tara's breeder has a very nice website with lots of wonderful picks of Tara and her siblings. You can find the website here, click on Nesten, then nest Rijsje, click meer .... and then at the bottom of the page you'll find all the pics of these sweet little puppies from the day they were born until 8 weeks old. Have fun and Tara's breeder would love it if you left her a comment in her guestbook (gastenboek) that you'll find on the top right hand corner of the page.
This morning I went to get Tara from her breeder and this is where Tara was born,
this is her mother Renske and
here she is (second on the left) with her 2 brothers and sister.

When we got home I put Tara in the conservatory and soon she was playing with some of the toys I got for her.
And while she was playing she noticed something odd: what on earth is this? Hmmmmmmmm.
This I know
it's food and I love it. This pic is especially for Tara's breeder Margo who was worried about Tara perhaps not eating today. Zoals je ziet Margo, zit ze hier heerlijk te peuzelen.

Off she went to discover more new things and while she did so
she was being watched by Jeeves
and by Vita and Kadootje. What is that noisy upstart doing in our conservatory?
Vita decided to get a closer look,
and then Tara decided to check Vita out too.
Hey, another one of those weird but wonderful creatures, I wonder what they are. They're not doggies. As it was such a mild October day and the sun came out in the afternoon, Tara went out into the garden to play.
Water! And it is wet! And you can drink it too.
Let's run!
Being watched again.
Tara's challenge: Handbags at noon!
Will Jeeves accept? In the end they decided that peek-a-boo would be more fun and then this happened.............
a kiss.
From all that running around in the garden she got rather muddy feet and
she looks ever so slightly bedraggled. Tara is getting tired.
Very tired. It's been an eventful day this first day of her new life with us at Bliss.
Sweet dreams little Tara.

55 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awwwww, what a CUTIE!!!! And what a wonderful first day in her new home! I'd never heard of that breed before but they're very pretty. I hope we see many pictures of her adventures!

Anonymous said...

I never knew that someone who loves cats so much could also be a dog person. Tara is very cute. Congratulations, YE.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Yolanda .. you have made a perfect post here for Tara's first day at home with her new family.
I kept smiling more and more as I read and looked at the pictures .. the excitement of having a brand new little soul join your family was just glowing through the whole post.
Tara is going to truly love her new family .. each and everyone of them !
Joy

Cheryl said...

Sweet dreams Tara....you have a wonderful life ahead with a very special lady......

Anonymous said...

Wat een heerlijk verhaal heb je over Tara geschreven, wat ziet ze er ontspannen uit. Ik ben benieuwd hoe haar eerste nacht zal verlopen.

Shirley said...

Hi there Yolanda :-D

I was wondering if this puppy was coming to join the huge family at Bliss! Oh... I really can see you on a woodland or beach walk with Tara! Perfect name too :-D

I loved the last photo! Congratulations on your new arrival ;-D

Priscilla George said...

Such a cutie! Congrats on your new puppy. What fun she will be.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Just seeing this sweet little Tara trying to get Jeeeves or one o fthe other cats to play made my heart go pitty patter. What fun you will have training your new puppy. It is one lucky dog to have a wonderful family of cats to keep it in line and a wonderful human to love it so.

I have seen this type of dog in paintings before. They look so lively. Your home will not be the same with this bundle of energy let loose in it.

garden girl said...

What a beautiful, sweet puppy Yolanda! She seems to be fitting in with the Bliss team quite nicely!

Carol Michel said...

That's a very sweet doggie! Cute "meet and greets" with the cats, too.

Carol, May Dreams Gardens

Ewa said...

What a cute little thing is this!

I am really interested how Bliss team will behave :))

Hugs,

LadyLuz said...

Oh, Yolanda..what a wonderful addition to the family. Tara has really landed on her feet with you all and will have a charmed life.

TYRA Hallsénius Lindhe said...

Oh.. Yolanda I'm so happy for you and congratulation to tha adorable Tara, she it wonderful. I wish I wish I wish that my husband one day will say, okay & yes to get a dog. / Lots of love to both of you Tyra

Tracy said...

Oh my goodness...Tara is so beautiful and sweet, Yolanda! What a little love...And such fun to see her making friends with the Bliss Team--slowly but surely ;o) So very happy for your with this sweet new companion to your family. I love dogs and miss having one. Happy Days to you all! :o) ((HUGS)

Crusty Bedsocks said...

She is BEAUTIFUL! Looking forward to seeing more of her antics. I love dogs- especially puppies!

Fat Rascal said...

She is gorgeous. Nice to see they don't chop off the wiggly waggly bits in your country!

I don't think that's the first time she'll be experimenting with water either!

FR

Annie in Austin said...

Oh, my goodness, Yolanda - she's a sweetie.

On your WOOF post I said: "...my guess is that this pup is being introduced to Aunt Yolanda and really belongs to someone else...

That may have been technically correct but you fooled me by actually adding Tara to your world of cats. The feline expressions remind me of the old Monty Python confuse-a-cat routine!

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

kate smudges said...

What a surprise this has been! Tara is adorable and will be an entertaining addition to your family. It was wonderful to see that your cats are so welcoming. Having a pup will be great fun and I envy you this!!

I'm looking forward to seeing more photos of Tara!!

Anonymous said...

Oh my, what utter adorableness! I see the cats have decided to adopt this little fellow and give him proper training.

Lis vom Lindenhof said...

Ach ist das ein hübscher kleiner Hund! Jetzt hast du ja dann den ganzen Winter Zeit ihn zu erziehen, oder übernehmen das die Katzen für euch? :-)

LG Lis

Anonymous said...

Oooooohhh- wat een snoezepoezeltje!Beetje Dolly Daisy maar dan de hondse uitgave..;-)))
Zo leuk om te zien hoe een pup de wereld verkent...en zo te zien halen de poezen niet gelijk uit!
Hoop dat jullie een rustig nachtje hebben...;-))))

Entangled said...

Soooo cute! I look forward to reading more about how she settles in and grows up.

Barbara said...

Welcome Tara on this blog! Your little dog is so sweet and I am also wondering how she will look like in a few weeks. Wishing you a lot of fun and also...patience!

Naturegirl said...

sigh...what a sweet love story!I love the way the cats were so curious about their new member of the fur family at Bliss! Congratulations to all of you!

Anonymous said...

I'm a big softie when when it comes to such a cute little softie like Tara! xx

Karin said...

Your Tara is such a sweet dog! Adorable! :) I'm definitly checking out the breeder's webiste and I'm already looking forward to more pics. Enjoy life with your sweetie and have a nice weekend...

Kram Karin

VP said...

Aahhhh isn't Tara sweet? I wonder what the rest of the Bliss team are thinking?

Anonymous said...

Hi Yolanda!
How wonderful to see the cats and the little puppy get to know each other.
What a wonderful little dog. I am sure she found already a spot in your heart.
Best wishes for all of you!
- Cheers Gisela.

Aimée said...

Hi Yolanda Of course once in a while I check out your great blog pages.. I love to see everything about what happens in your garden, and for me: definitely NOT too many cats ( nice to remember your furry friends who are family to some with us) and Ihad to laugh a lot about the extra overthetop cat item!!!
And now today super !! - lovely to be able to see a little bit how Tara's first days with you guys went..
love
Aimée

Anonymous said...

wat een leuke kennismaking met Jeeves, de rest kijkt nog even de kat uit de boom;-) Tara zal beslist ervoor zorgen dat het Bliss team boeiend blijft. Kijk uit naar het vervolg......

Gail said...

YE, What a cutie pie! You will have us all talking puppy talk soon! She is absolutely adorable!
Welcome to Bliss, Ms Tara!

Gail

marga said...

Aaaaaaaaaaaach...............wat een dotje!!!!! Wat zal dat genieten zijn....fijn dat het goed gaat met de katten. Hoe was haar eerste nacht bij jullie???

Viooltje said...

Tara is beyond adorable. She's rather lucky to have found such a beautiful home, even though ruled by felines LOL. I can see it in their eyes: Resistance is futile, You will be assimilated ! Can't wait for more of her. This totally cute, picturesque post made my day. But then again, Bliss always does.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on that cuttie pie!!!

Terra said...

I am drawn to people and puppies too, named Tara, because of its closeness to my own name, Terra.
What a delightful pup, and so good to hear this old breed is being cared for.
I see you have a Christmas countdown; did you know my book on Christmas is just now released? It was written by 6 women, and is all about celebrating this holiday.
Terra

Rusty in Miami said...

She is a beauty, and now comes the fun part puppy training.
Good luck

Garden Cats + Crafts said...

Liebe Yolanda, da hat das Bliss-Team also ein neues Mitglied. Und was für ein Goldiges. Tara ist einfach bezaubernd. Ich würde umgehend mein Herz an sie verlieren. Ich hoffe, alle gemeinsam kommen gut miteinander zurecht. Ich wünsche Dir viel viel Freude an dem kleinen Herz mit Fell drum herum.

Schönes Wochenende und liebe Grüße,
Birgit

Kylee Baumle said...

Oh. My. Goodness. I am not a dog person, but Tara has GOT to be one of the sweetest, most adorable dogs I've ever seen! Wouldn't it be wonderful if she would just freeze like this? What a sweetie!

Anonymous said...

Leuk een klein eendenlokkertje!

Als Tara net zo gek wordt op katten als mijn Caitlin (half Kooiker) gaat het helemaal goed komen daar 'at Bliss'.

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

You'd been teasing for a long time with photos of a sweet-faced puppy - I'm glad you were finally able to bring her home. She's so cute! I am not familiar with that breed, as it is not 1 recognized by the American Kennel Club. I hope you, the cats & your new puppy will be very happy together for a very long time!

healingmagichands said...

What a darling! I'm sure you will enjoy her immensely. I am shocked that your cats were so diffident. When I brought Ruby home it took my two monster boys about 15 seconds to get around to administering a box on the nose complete with claws that taught Ruby exactly where they thought she fit into the pantheon of house pets. I was afraid Jeeves was going to be the one, but Tara is much too young and sweet to have that sort of experience just yet!

Anonymous said...

Oh, wat een heerlijkheid! Mijn pake (opa) had een kooiker vroeger, wat herkenbaar dan. Hij ging daarmee altijd mollenvangen, grappig hè?
Ik had bij jou geen hondje verwacht eerlijk gezegd, met al die kattenbeestjes. Maar het is een jonkie en de poezen wennen daar vast snel genoeg aan!

Een heel leuke fotoserie zo zeg!

Anonymous said...

I am soooo jealous, but of course happy for you, Yolanda. We have never been without a dog until I moved back to Germany. I am sure Tara will love living with the Bliss-Bunch. Take good care, Andrea

em said...

ye, congratulations! i look forward to more tara adventures!

Anonymous said...

Pets are fine but where is the garden?

Glo said...

Tara is one adorable puppy! May you enjoy each others company for a long long time :)

Sigrun said...

Mensch, Yolanda, ist der süß! Ich bin ganz verzückt, zumal ich auch gerne wieder einen Hund hätte ...

Sigrun

Matron said...

Yolanda! 48 comments on one blog WOW! Wonderful pictures, and as a training dog behaviourist I can congratulate you on giving this young pup such an interesting environment. Give the pup so many new experiences while she is small. There is a 'window of opportunity' that closes when she is around 15weeks. Show her bicycles, cars, men with beards, cats, chickens etc.

Anonymous said...

nice material

Cindy Garber Iverson said...

How precious! And the little kiss between Tara and Jeeves is the most special (I'm glad you got a shot of it).

Hugs, purrs, and puppy nuzzles,
Cindy

Anonymous said...

OWWWWWWWWWW wat een poepie !!
heerlijk om naar te kijken , wat zal jij het druk en leuk hebben ;))
hihihihihihihihihihi..
wens je alle geluk met dit mooie ding !

Unknown said...

Wauwwwwwwww wat ziet Tara er schattig uit zeg!!
Super leuk om naar te kijken;-))
zie dat de katter en niet heel veel moeite mee hebben

en wat een heerlijke dag heeft Tara achter de rug, echt super

heel veel liefde hezondheid en plezier met Tara

Gr Helen

Curmudgeon said...

That is just too much cuteness! With all those kitties and one inquisitive pup you are in for some wild times! Keep your camera ready! --Curmudgeon

emmat said...

that is a really sweet dog! I'm guessing that i should be saying something like wat een dotje poepie...

chigiy at Gardeners Anonymous said...

Tara is so great. I love dogs. They are always so happy. They just live for your love and they love you back so unconditionally. Congratulations. She is so beautiful.