Meet Ms. Dionne!

She was the 6th of 8 puppies born around 8 weeks ago. She now weighs a bit over 15 pounds. I picked her up early this afternoon, and so far she has already distinguished herself from her four CCI predecessors in our household in several ways:

-- First puppy to ride all the way back to our house (from Oceanside) without crying, whimpering, or shrieking.

-- First puppy to fall in the pool on the very first afternoon! (within 3 hours of arrival). Thankfully, I was able to fish her out without having to jump in after her.  (The pool is cold at this time of year!)

-- First puppy to arrive looking a bit like Frankenstein.  She has staples under both eyes, intended to correct what I gather is a fairly common condition called entropian (in which the lower eyelid turns in and the rubbing of the lashes irritates the eye.)  I'm told the staples should fall out in about two weeks and she should be fine. Otherwise a simple surgery (which CCI promises to pay for) should fix her up.

Although the staples mar her beauty a bit, she's still a good-looking girl -- a solid bundle of silky, shiny fur. I think she'll grow up to have a big square retriever head. As for her personality... stay tuned.