Monday, June 23, 2008

Meet Sheldon Gryffindor Rockhill....

Well the day has finally arrived. We are the proud new parents of a standard poodle puppy that we have named Sheldon Gryffindor Rockhill. He is the son of the all-time winning champion poodle Reeba who is a beautiful mommy, who has fabulous poodle lineage. I am generally an advocate of animal rescue and adoptions, however, John has allergies and Poodles are generally non-allergenic dogs because they have hair and not fur. At any rate, we bought our poodle from an excellent breeder who really respects the breed and does an excellent job caring for and raising puppies. I owe a debt of gratitude to my friend Candy who referred me to the breeder. She promised she'd find me one of the best poodle breeders in the country and she was right! Naming a pet is never easy for me. I start making lists way in advance and walk around saying the names out loud, trying to see what I like. Then once the new pet is in my home it's all about the personality and character. I can tell you that I had several other names on the list that I thought I liked more, but in the end he just seems like a Sheldon to us. I added his middle name of Gryffindor because that was my second choice.

above: at the risk of sounding like a Harry Potter nerd, here is the shield of the House of Gryffindor. I just liked the sound of it as a middle name for Sheldon.

above: you can get a sense of his size from these photos. Sheldon is 10 weeks old and weighs about 15 pounds or so.

above: Going for a stroll in the garden
Sheldon meets the other kids...
above: Koshimi was snoozing when Sheldon first burst onto the scene. Owen walked over with some trepidation.
above: The Three Amigos
above: Owen decides that Sheldon is alright and pats his new brother on the shoulder. Sheldon will be bigger than Owen in no time...
above: here you can really see Sheldon's size in comparison to Koshimi. Shimi is about 18 pounds and is an old man. Sheldon is 15 pounds at just 10 weeks old.

above: Shimi teaches his new younger brother how to go for a walk. Sheldon did fairly well for his first time on the lead.
-Rick Rockhill

23 comments:

  1. What a fine dog person you have there, Rick! Congratulations to you and Jason!

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  2. he is adorable but of course i love the cat the best! ha ha ha

    smiles, bee
    xoxoxooxoxoxox

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  3. He's very cute, as are the rest of the herd. I do hope you'll call him Griffin; one of my favorite dogs has that name! Sheldon seems so "old mannish" to me....LOL

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  4. He's a total lady killer! What a cutie...I love that "should I like this guy or not" look from the others.

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  5. tea- Thanks...me and JOHN are excited about the new puppy!

    Bee- we live the kitty too...

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  6. Yeah! Congratulations Rick. I look forward to meeting Sheldon someday soon. Tell Shimi and Owen I said hello.

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  7. sheldon is a cutie....i get lobbied for a dog periodically too but i am also very allergic to cats and dogs. even though they are billed as non-allergenic i get afraid that it wouldn't be the case.

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  8. Sheldon is cute as hell and I think the pics of those three now hanging are purty cool/funny.

    Keep 'em cool over there! Those temps right now are heatstrokingly high!

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  9. Friends- Comments are always welcome, but if someone wants to leave a comment with a differing opinion, I'll post it as long as you leave your name and contact info like most people do. Otherwise I will not publish nasty e-mails from anyone upset about me buying a dog vs adopting. I am very supportive of animal shelters and animal causes. So I'm not going to apologize. Afterall, this is my blog. Ok I'm done ranting now.

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  10. Awwww, how cute is he!

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  11. He is so adorable!!! Glad to see the other kids like him as well! Lots of "awww"s going on here!

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  12. What a cutie, and I love the name!

    Koshimi and Owen are beautiful too.

    You have quite the lovely family. :-)

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  13. What a BEAUTIFUL Special Puppy Sheldon is....! Dear as he can be, isn't he. Congratulatiins, Rick....May Sheldon bring you much joy!

    And, I look forward to our "meet", whenever that might be.

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  14. I have to say, I love all dogs. My life would not be complete without one...BUT, poodles are my all time favourite.
    We had one when I was a kid that was retired show dog,and was my best friend. Smart, loyal, always by my side.
    A few years back, I adopted another poodle. Well, actually she was a terripoo, but she was all poodle. In fact, I called her that - Poodle. She got me through a bad divorce (is there ever a good one?) and the death of my father. We lost her three years ago to cancer, and even though I have Ruby and Bumble, I still miss her.
    Sheldon is gorgeous. Honestly :)
    Congrats1

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  15. Awwwww....he's so adorable. Isn't it fun to add a toddler to the family? They add so much energy to the household. LOVE the name too. You're great with names. :)
    Congrats Dad!

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  16. Are you going to ahve a new dog shower party to introduce him to your friends? Love his name.

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  17. Cute puppy! I love the name Sheldon and Gryffindor is a hoot!

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  18. Absolutely adorable, not that you would expect me to think anything else. I got my Poodles from responsible breeders of many years but my other two dogs are rescues of indeterminate breeding practices. I love them all equally and simply ignore any criticism of where I got them.

    I'm looking forward to watching Sheldon/Gryffindor grow.

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  19. Sheldon-what a great name for such a cute little guy!! I can't wait to watch him grow up. :)

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  20. You have quite the menagerie growing there, don't you? It'll be fun to see how they all have fun with each other.

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  21. Beautiful!!!and adorable!!

    AND harry potter is awesome!! My husband kids and I really enjoy it (well, oldest son I mean)

    I'm reading the book, WICKED right now as I'm interested in going to the play, but I love to read and if you loved THE wizard of oz, it really is an interesting tale, I tell my husband, it's sort of like the female version of harry potter..but with periods and male erections.
    Seriously though, you may like it..or just go and see the play and tell me if the plays worth it.
    I'm done with my ramble!
    Hope you're well!
    Congrats on sheldon!!

    Sincerely,
    Elizabeth

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  22. Welcome Sheldon. I look forward to watching you grow. You have wonderful humans to take care of you.

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Thank you kindly.