Meet Astro!

No, not the Jetson's dog. :-)

We came up with the name Astro a while ago (okay, it was before he was born). We really liked it but I was a little concerned that it was kind of goofy and of course everyone would think of the Jetson's dog (who is actually pretty cool too). So I went in search of a more dignified sounding name on the Internet. First I checked the Greek and Roman gods because Zephyrus is the Greek god of the west wind that brings spring. Well, I found a really nice god named Astraeus (or Astraeos) and of course Astro fit perfectly with that. Here is what Wikipedia has to say.

Astraeus

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For the airline, see Astraeus (airline). For the genus of earthstars, see Astraeus (genus).

In Greek mythology, Astraeus or Astraeos or Astraeos (Ancient Greek: Ἀστραῖος) was an astrological deity and the Titan-god of the dusk. His original Greek name, Astraios (Ἀστραῖος), translates as "dawn of the stars" (astra- meaning "stars"; the -eos portion meaning "dawn"), the time when the stars come out, or simply dusk. In Hesiod's Theogony and in the Bibliotheca, Astraeus is a second-generation Titan, descended from Crius and Eurybia.^[1] However, Hyginus wrote that he was descended directly from Tartarus and Gaia, and referred to him as one of the Gigantes. Appropriately, as god of the dusk, Astraeus married Eos, goddess of the dawn. Together as nightfall and daybreak they produced many children who are associated with what occurs in the sky during twilight. They had many sons, the four Anemoi ("Winds"): Boreas, Notus, Eurus, and Zephyrus,^[2] and the five Astra Planeta ("Wandering Stars", i.e. planets): Phainon (Saturn), Phaethon (Jupiter), Pyroeis (Mars), Eosphoros/Hesperos (Venus), and Stilbon (Mercury). A few sources mention one daughter, Astraea^[3] ("stars", fem. personification. Sometimes: "justice"), but most writers considered Astraea the child of Zeus and Themis. He is sometimes associated with Aeolus, the Keeper of the Winds, since winds often swell up around dusk.

Greek Name: AstraioV; Transliteration: Astraios; Latin Spelling: Astraeus; Translation: Of the Stars (astraios)

We'll probably include Astraeus or Astraeos in his registered name. Zephyr is Cebar Winter Solstice Zephyrus (born in winter and Zephyr brings spring after winter) so I am thinking maybe ...... Summer Solstice Astraeos .... (born in summer, nights get longer after the solstice, and Astraeos brings night). Okay, I am kind of a nerdy science type.

Everything went extremely well with his flight to Las Vegas on Saturday morning. He flew with Continental's PetSafe program, which is how Zephyr came to us. Both times the plane arrived a little early and they get dogs off the plane and to the pick up office very fast, like within 10 minutes. We were all there to meet him when he arrived. He was wagging and giving kisses right after the delivery.

After leaving the airport we drove to Boulder City and had lunch at a nice park. Zephyr and Astro got along from the start, but it was a little too hot to do much playing.


After all the excitement everyone was tired and slept on the drive home. Yes, that's a pillow Zephyr's head is on. :-) We had camped the night before picking the puppy up.


When we got home the boys explored the back yard together.


Astro really started to relax and play. He loves toys like Zephyr.


Zephyr really, really wanted to play with Astro right away but Astro wasn't so sure at first. When Zephyr got too excited about it all he did a few crazy laps around the yard. Later they were playing and Astro would duck in to the bushes when he got overwhelmed. It was really cute.


Is that my twin? Annie was the first kitty that he met. He has been doing really well with the cats and they with him.


The next morning Zephyr and Astro were up early and ready to play. It was so cute! Once Zephyr laid down to play they really got nutty and started to play tug.




After playing tug Zephyr was smelling Astro and grooming him all over. No, he is not a perv, he's just really happy to have a new brother.


Later that morning Astro met his cousin, Buster, and went on his first short hike in the forest.

So, he is Astro, and he is so sweet and cute and smart ...... ! Thanks to Dani Edgerton and family, Robert Greene, and Andre' Fairfield for doing this breeding and raising such a happy sweet boy. We couldn't be happier!

Caron

It's A Baby Boy!

I am so excited to announce that this little boy will be joining our family this Saturday!! Someone who will remain nameless is so excited to meet this boy she can hardly sleep. He is expertly shown by Elizabeth in these pictures at eight weeks old.


A happy little boy who is ready to have fun with his new big brother! Zephyr has picked out some nice toys, treats, a blanket, and a bed for him.



He's quite a looker too! I love his brindle markings. Those feet look like they are ready to go for a hike and do some coursing. ;-)


Look at that face and those eyes!! It's like he is saying "Hi Mom, can't wait to see you". It's going to be a rough couple of days, like the past few months. Patience is not always one of my best virtues. I've spent a lot of time in a trance drooling over "puppy picture slideshows" the past two months. :-)

Caron

Crazy PackHounds

The weekend of August 29 was the big overnight backpack trip for the dogs to earn two legs towards their Packdog certificates from the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog Club. We started training last spring to get the dogs used to carrying at least 20% of their weight for at least 5 miles. The trip was great and all the dogs earned their two legs! We hiked along the Arizona Trail between Sandy Canyon and Marshal Lake. Here are some highlights from the trip.

This picture is actually from the morning after we hiked in, but I didn't get a beginning group shot. From left to right it's Zephyr and me, Friday and Dan, Kenda and Tammy, Twix and Cristine, and Linus and Chris.

Starting out on the hike Zephyr carried about 18 pounds, more than 20% of his weight actually. His bed roll fit nicely on top of his pack.


Most of the group at a water break. All the boys had crushes on Kenda the Blond Bombshell Bearded Collie and Twix the Sexy Svelte Visla.

Cruising along the trail. Zephyr carried 6 liters of water, all his food and snacks, his blanket, and our camera in his pack. After we got on the trail we let the dogs off leash and they did a great job. Although, one of the biggest challenges while hiking was keeping the dogs from breaking out in to all out play. They would zoom around even with their packs on.

Once we got to the campsite the dogs decided it was time to let loose. We camped in the trees next to a big grassy meadow that the dogs had an absolute blast running and playing in. The blur on the left is Kenda.

Kenda, Linus, and Friday having fun.

Lots,

And Lots,

And Lots,

And Lots,


And Lots of Fun was had in the field! We were worried about the dogs making it back out the next day. Twix was a little unsure of what to think of all this craziness at first, but, by the next morning she was out there having fun too.

Finally it was time for bed. Although, Zephyr really did think that it was unfair that there wasn't a special Dogs Only tent.

Zephyr proclaims, "This is the best trip of my whole life!"

A break on the way out the next morning.

Friday coming up the trail. He had to carry the most weight, 26 pounds at start, what a trooper!

We made it! Everyone made it back with no problems and lots of fun was had along the way.

Back at the camp ground all the dogs received two really nice qualifying ribbons and a special yummy biscuit. Chris, Dan, and I met up at Baskin Robbin's for ice cream back in town.

Zephyr crashed out when we got home. He had lots of dreams that afternoon and night, hopefully he was back in the meadow with all his friends.


Riley and Annie had fun in the back yard and tried some agility while Zephyr slept on the porch that afternoon.

Thanks to Chris for organizing our trip, we can't wait for the next one!

We're Expecting! ;-)

Yes, it's true. We're expecting our second greyhound child. ;-) The puppies were born on the night of July 26. These puppies are from the same family of greyhounds that Zephyr is from. For more info and pictures see http://arghandabgreyhounds.blogspot.com/ and http://cebargreyhounds.blogspot.com/

We are very excited! It's going to be a rough couple of months waiting for him to get to come home. There are 5 boys and mom, Sylvia, in this picture. The puppies are 4 days old in the picture. They are so round, you'd never guess they are greyhounds.

We Went Camping!

The last two weeks we were out of town on a big camping and hiking trip! We went all the way up to Sandpoint, Idaho (where Ernie's mom and brother's family lives) for our nephew Lucas's and Hallie's wedding. Sandpoint, Idaho is in very northern Idaho, almost to Canada, and is a beautiful area. We like to go on a trip every summer and decided to turn this in to our camping vacation so we could bring Zephyr with us. Zephyr had been camping once before, but not such a long trip. He has always been a great car rider and loves being outdoors, so we had a great trip. Prepare yourselves, this is a long post.

Our first night was spent at Coral Pink Sand Dunes, outside of Kanab, Utah. Zephyr thought the sand was great!

My favorite hike was on the west side of the Grand Tetons. Dogs aren't allowed in the national park, but this canyon was just as nice.

As we hiked into the canyon more of the peaks became visible.

Lots of yummy new smells!



Sometimes a dog just likes taking in the scenery.


A good time was had by all.


We did get chased out of two camping spots and into hotels by swarms of mosquitoes. Once was along the river near Star Valley, Idaho and second was at North Fork, Idaho (which we realized had happened to us there a few years ag0). Zephyr didn't seem to be bothered by the bites, and of course he's on heart worm meds, but even after a few minutes he ended up looking like he had the chicken pocks which made us feel really bad, and they were driving us nuts too so we retreated. The other camping spots only had a few mosquitoes, but they still really liked Zephyr. So we came up with a few ways to protect him.

Most creative was the very regal afghan. People in the campground really enjoyed this.

Most successful was Zephyr's raincoat.

Dog is definitely his Co-Pilot! How cute is that!

Zephyr had the whole back seat of the Pathfinder to himself. Plus, it was extra comfy with our sleeping bags and pillows, and his blanket and afghan.

In very western Montana there is a small canyon that has some really cool giant cedar trees, a lot like the redwoods. They seemed to be preserved here because of the cool flat valley they were in.

I'm King of the World! Or so he thinks. There were also giant boulders just for dogs to climb on.


We had originally planned on staying in a hotel in Sandpoint, rather than with Ernie's mom Elizabeth, because we were really worried that Zephyr would be too rowdy and we didn't want him to run in to her. We stayed the first night in a hotel and then took him to the local dog park the next morning where he really played it up. Then off too Oma's (Elizabeth is from Switzerland, it means grandmother) it was for a first meeting. True to the calm greyhound personality Zephyr was perfect and we canceled that hotel room! Zephyr loved his Oma and she loved him!
A family portrait. Very Cute!


He had lots of fun with Zoey, she actually loves dogs.

And, he hung out with Percy. Zoey and Percy like dogs because the grew up with Ernie's parents German Shepard, Shasta. Shasta has passed away and the kitties love it when dogs come to visit.


The wedding took place on a beautiful rock overlooking a canyon and with mountain views. A small group of people made the drive. I don't have pictures of the wedding, but this is a picture of everyone trying to help Hallie's aunt and uncle's car after we took a wrong turn and tried to go up a steep gravely road. All turned out well. Apparently the wedding party watched all of this and had a good laugh from the top of the rock.

The reception was back at Hallie's parents place. No pictures, but it was beautiful. We wish Lucas and Hallie all the best.



The trip home was a little more direct, but we still had nice camping and hiking.

The last night was back at Coral Pink Sand Dunes. This is one tired and very dirty dog. He got a bath when we got home!