Phoenix AKA "Little Nicky" has arrived!

Roy had quite an adventure traveling to pick up the newest member of the Lupien family, but he has arrived safe and sound! Not the puppy I expected as you can see from the previous post that this boy is not the same one. He is however a fantastic little guy and we are having a grand time with the little fellow. He has already made his presence known with the ducks and not in a good way either. A mouth full of tail feathers was  pretty exciting for  him and he was sure he did not get quite all that he really needed. Should be a handful once we actually start trying to do some training. He is a very bright puppy, which really makes it fun. He is active, but not hyper which I do find in the working lines to be the norm. A lot of the show lines I have had over the years seem to be more hyper. They want to play, play, play and if not then they want to chew or destroy a lot of stuff. The working lines seem to be more content to hang and are happy to go for a walk or do barn chores and watch over their domain. They do play to some extent, but they don't seem so into other dogs as wanting to be with you and helping around the house. Seems over the years I am tending to sway more to these types of lines. I like their "uniqueness". They have more character in type and style. The show lines are all starting to look the same to me. Probably because they are all using the same studs and lines in every breeding. I hate when people try and make a breed so uniform when it wasn't breed for looks, but for a job. I am beginning to appreciate what's between the ears and not so much what the ears look like. I used to think I was kind of a dog snob, but I have found I am much more tolerant than a lot of breeders as far as the wide range of what is acceptable within the breed standard and really it is all a matter of a person's interpretation of what moderate is. I would argue most of the dog's in the breed ring are not moderate at all in my opinion. Not on bone, coat, head type, etc.....I have owned both types over the past 20+ years. There are qualities I admire in both. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and well, brains...I guess that depends on how smart the owner is. ;-) I've seen some darn smart dogs with some pretty dense owners. Some days I may fall in that category. Maybe more than I wish to admit.

Really shouldn't we be more concerned with healthy gene pool rather than making it a popularity contest? Genetic diversity is not always such a bad thing.

Now, that is one RED dog! As he matures even the white strip on his chest will become less noticeable. I do love the pigment in the working lines. He is a tri, not a bi. He just has very little visual copper. I like the little spot of white on his chin. It looks like he has been drinking milk. :-) 

He has the most intelligent and expressive eyes for a baby.

I have big plans for you handsome! 

Roy is pretty smitten with the little guy. He sleeps on Papa's head. Hey, you are supposed to be MY baby boy!