Puppies as Adults

     Bella's litter recently turned two years old, and they've all grown into beautiful and happy dogs.  I thought I'd share some updates.

This is Jessie, now named Kira, with her new buddy, Rhett.  She's four months old here.

We visited our kids when Rosa was four months old.  It really seemed as if she still recognized us!

Duncan and Bella have plenty of "play dates" with other dogs.  This was Duncan at four months old.

Chester came over for a visit!  The pups are six months old here. They've lost the puppy look and look like dogs now.  They will still grow more though!

When they were seven months old we managed a visit with both Chester and Brutus (now named Koukouzelis, or KouKou for short).  You can see that their coats are getting longer now.

At seven months, Duncan is already a master at supervision!  Collies are very curious, sometimes to the point of being downright nosy!

Rosa at seven months.  Still the smallest of the litter, but still a beauty! 

Fraser (Wallace) at seven months old.  He has the run of a farm now and loves it!

Tug was renamed Giric, and looks very happy in his new home!  He's also seven months old here.

One more seven month shot - at Christmas-time.  A good mother & son shot - you can see that Duncan is already bigger than Bella, but it is typical for male collies to be a bit bigger than the females.
I was holding a dog treat above the camera, which is why they are looking so intently at the camera here!

And finally, some shots of the pups as full-grown adult collies:

KouKou (Brutus), born the largest, and still the biggest of the litter.  He's a big, happy, friendly boy, with a stunning, shiny black coat!

Rosa, with her bunny companion, Emit.  She is surprisingly gentle with him.  She also knows no strangers!  She & our kids live in Texas now, where she is regularly mistaken for the Texas A&M's collie mascot, Reveille!

Chester after graduating from obedience school.  He is a big, happy, goofball, who adores his family!

Kira (Jessie) is just stunning!

Willow has a new companion, and it is now her turn to be a surrogate mom.  We're told she takes that duty very seriously!
And wow, she looks so much like Bella!

Giric (Tug) with his companion, a smooth-coat collie named Tina.  Yes, he and Duncan still look like twins!

As a quick aside - there's a reason that Tug, Duncan, and Rosa look so similar:

This is not Duncan or Tug!  This is Bow Hunter, the sire of Bella's litter.

Bella and Duncan, in case you couldn't tell!  Though Duncan is bigger and heavier, Bella is the boss in this relationship.  She has the most herding instinct of any collie I've ever known, and she takes her guarding duties very seriously.  If there is ANYTHING different or out of place, she is the first to let us know.  Duncan however, is more interested in playing and in being involved in whatever we are doing!

Fraser (Wallace) apparently inherited more of his mother's disposition.  We're told that he herds the barn cats, and that he lets his family know if anything is amiss on the farm.

     It's so good to see the pups all so happy with their families!