" Genie"                6 Year Old Update  May  2008           Australia

Dear Beverly,
we just wanted to thank you for the most beautiful dog we got from you for our daughter Stella's 4th birthday. My Daughter named her Geneveve as you may remember.

"Genie" was 6 years old on the 14th of March. She has such a gentle, loving nature and smart as a tack!. My daughter calls her her sister! They are the best of friends and are always together. Genie has a wonderful playful disposition yet is disciplined. She knows/understands at least twenty words and commands and obeys, loves to play run and catch the ball, tug of war, jumping through hoops and playing with children (so gentle around toddlers and babies!) Possibly her favorite game is having her eyes closed (I put my hands over her eyes), we count to ten and then release her  to find where my daughter is hiding in the house. She tears through the house sniffing her out. The tail never stops wagging.

She does a curious thing after eating her main meal- when she has finished she gets her favorite bone (3 years old now) walks around the house a bit then drops it at my daughters feet. My daughter says thank you and Gennie returns the bone to its hiding place!

Genie is also a very healthy fit dog. She is 18kilos and not an ounce of fat. She exercises daily and is very rarely left alone (she is very popular at the office). She even comes on holidays with us!

I have had a number of dogs before, but never like this. You really chose a good one for us Beverly and we visit your web regularly just to ohhh and ahhh...!

We appreciate your breeding, dedication and care.

Cheers
Salik, Andee and Stella Silverstein.
 

 " Beluga"                   5 Year Old Update Illinois USA 12th May 2008    

Well Grandma Beverly it has been a long time.  Beluga just turned 5  and it has gone so fast. 

All I can say is THANK YOU for the best  family member we could have hoped for.  Belu has turned into the most  cuddly, empathetic, playful, nurturing clown we could have hoped for.   She helps my daughter who has OCD everyday.  She keeps her calm when  she has panic attacks and makes sure she feels loved when she comes  home from school crying. She keeps us laughing all of the time and she chases a ball like nobody's business. 

 When my older children are off  at school she picks up their stuffed animals and cries as she carries  them to the door.  She then places them in a pile and lies with them  until they get home.  Her favorite sleeping spot is a laundry basket  and she will lie in one whether it is full or empty.  Belu actually  will pull them out to lie in. 

My 2 year old climbs on her and Belu  just lies over to get her tummy rubbed.  All I have to say is when you  bred Becky to Cool Dude it was a perfect match for the type of dog we  asked for.  She is everything we wanted and more.  She is now 70 lbs.  and uses all of it to climb on us and keep us warm.  I constantly have  people tell me how she has the best manners and is one of the most  wonderful dogs they have come in contact with. 

We just thought you  should know what we were up to and feel a great  accomplishment in  knowing what a great job you did.  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!  

The Teich Family  Kildeer Illinois

"Hedwig"   Boston MA      Son of Wanda and Baron born August 2007

Dear Beverley, Our lives are so active and busy, it is always a challenge to simply sit and attend to the little things.  I suppose the fact that our lives never slowed down, even when Hedwig arrived, is a great testament to how easily and quickly he adapted himself to our family

During his first night home, in his brand new crate at the foot of our bed  Hedwig cried twice to be let out and whimpered a few others.  All in all, we thought a good first night and prepared ourselves for a couple of weeks of adjustment.  To our surprise, starting with the second night, he slept through the night without a single complaint and no accidents.  As far as housetraining, after one week of a handful of daytime accidents inside the house, Hedwig learned to ring the bell to be let out to the pen and has not had an accident since.  It has been a surprisingly, and welcome, easy adjustment to life with our new member.

Needless to say, Hedwig is adored by all in our house, even my husband, who was initially opposed to adding another dog to our family, in view of Ariel’s advanced age.  Our son, Ethan, simply adores Hedwig, and the feeling is clearly mutual.  Hedwig has added so many laughs to our family, it is hard to imagine we were ever without him

 He is so well behaved, my son’s Tae Kwon Do master allows Hedwig to come into the Dojang and sit next to my chair while my son trains.  I simply bring his fuzzy mat with me and he knows to stay on it, asking only for some water half way through the class (he knows where to get it).  
The only vice Hedwig seems to display is a penchant for pilfering socks and slippers.  He sneaks into my son’s bedroom, finds a sock, then streaks out of there at lightning speed.  While quite amusing to watch, we are working to break him of the habit, lest it develop into something less desirable.

He has started puppy training.  He is the star of the class, good with sitting, good with down, but particularly good at the “stay” command so far.  He is happy to meet other dogs, yet when the play gets rough, he is content to stay by my side and watch from afar.  I find him so attuned to my own preferences, it’s so easy to have him around me

He is quiet and friendly to guests, never jumping on them or begging for food.  When we have company over for dinner, he is likely to be found sleeping peacefully at the feet of one of the guests, all of whom are quickly charmed by him.  He is so well liked that, lately, whenever we are invited to dinner at friends’ homes, they have started asking us to bring Hedwig along.  He also has a regular playdate with two other Labradoodles, Jake and Zeus, both very nice dogs.

We are fortunate to live in the country, with acreage around us, a State Park behind us, and a working Cranberry Bog down the street.  He loves to go for walks around the bog, where there is always a large contingent of dogs playing and running.  I have not yet allowed him to run around off-leash, I don’t think he’s ready, or maybe it’s me!  He adores the snow, and happily plays in it for long periods of time.  Hedwig’s favorite snow game is having my son kick snow up in the air and he catches it with his mouth.  He is also an excellent soccer player, particularly good at the goalie position.  It is almost impossible to get a ball past him.  Hedwig is content to spend an afternoon outdoors with us, while we work in the yard or throw the ball around.  As soon as the next snow storm comes, we will start our yearly igloo building project – I am sure he will have fun.

Dearest Beverly, I don’t know how to thank you for bringing Hedwig into our family, he is truly an amazing companion who has quickly found his way into our hearts and has the ability to make us smile even in our darkest moments.  Winter is usually a hard season for many of us in the Northeast, but I must say my usual blues have stayed away this year.  All it takes is Hedwig ringing the bell or bringing me his leash to bring me out of the doldrums and put a smile on my face.  My son, an only child, has found a true play mate in Hedwig, who is quickly teaching him the lessons an only child does not usually have to learn – patience, negotiation and the art of sharing your life with someone who doesn’t always see things your way.  Thank you.
Hedwig's  Family in Boston MA.

'Scooter Pie'    Six Year Old Update November 2007 for a CELEBRITY DOODLE

Dear Beverley:

 It is with great pride and pleasure that we announce the 6th Birthday Celebration for our Rutland Manor Labradoodle, Scooter Pie. Scooter adopted us in February of 2002 after having made the long journey by air from Melbourne, Australia to Sydney, Australia then on to Los Angeles, California USA and from there to Tucson, Arizona where we picked him up at the International Airport, a tired but excited, cafe, brown-eyed, 11 week old, 16 pound, male Labradoodle. We immediately named him Scooter Pie after the chocolate and marshmallow cookie he resembled as a puppy. He was bred for us at Rutland Manor's Darnum Victoria breeding center, as the offspring of Rutland's , "Shadow", a Brown Chocolate Dam, and a Cafe Sire, Heart Throb "Huggy". 

 Scooter immediately settled in as a member of the family establishing his special loving relationships with everyone. We consider ourselves fortunate that Scooter chose to stay with us as his adopted family. Today, six years later, you would never know that he was adopted, he even looks like his Dad!

 We have several affectionate nicknames for him, the most frequent being, Scooter Man Dog, as sometimes we can't tell where the separation begins between his human characteristics and his canine instincts. At other times, he can be more canine than human, it is at times like these that we call him Dogman. We also refer to him as the Boneman for his undying love of the "Big Bone", and when he is coy and cute he is the "doglet". But most of all, he is our Scootie, an incredibly brilliant, loving, affectionate and funny member of our family.  Scooter quickly learned several dozen tricks as a puppy. Our most fun is that he will sneeze on command, shake his head "yes" or "no" in response to a question and will give you a "high five" with the correct paw when you ask for it.

 He auditioned for the American television show, "Nightime with David Letterman" on the NBC network, appeared in the American Geographic television special "Designer Dogs", and has been featured on the cover of Jeep Magazine as well as numerous newspapers.  It is with the utmost love and affection that we proudly celebrate this his 6th Birthday. Thank you grandma, Beverley Manners and thank you Rutland Manor for our living cookie.

Robert M. Kershner, M.D., M.S., F.A.C.S.
Jeryl D. Kershner, M.D., F.A.A.P.

Scooter has his own website: http://www.ScooterManDog.com.