Hagen Heals the Heart – Kelsey Browning

Hagen Heals the Heart

Today’s post brought to you by the letter H.

If you follow me or are my friend on Facebook, then you probably know we puppy-sat (is that even a word??) a 5 ½ month old Canine Companions for Independence pup last week. Yep, we got Hagen all to ourselves from Tuesday through Sunday!

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Sweet Hagen

It was impossible not to compare him to our pup, Pharaoh, who’s recently gone on to advanced training in Florida.

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Pharaoh at about the same age

Hagen has lighter fur, a shorter snoot, shorter whiskers and eyebrows, and much sadder eyes. But I saw so many little behaviors that brought back fun puppy memories of Pharaoh’s antics—jumping on a toy like a cat, flipped-over back foot stretch, the retriever “scoot” where they go crazy running around the house or yard, great love of squeaking Kong toys, and the NEED to pick up every. single. leaf. in our our yard.

Smarty Boy was smitten the minute Hagen walked into the house with his puppy tummy, sweet kisses, and desire to play fetch. Again. Again. And again. My son has slowly recovered from the intense sadness we all experienced the first couple of weeks after Pharaoh left. And Hagen’s visit brought back all the pleasure without the permanence of 6am wake-up barks, walks, and poop patrol.

He also quickly taught us that some of Pharaoh’s “bad habits” are pretty normal for puppies—pulling on the Gentle Leader, selective hearing, and obsession with Bad Dog.

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Playful Hagen

So I wanted to share a few of Tech Guy’s sweet photos of Hagen and let you know our family is still involved with CCI. Also – stay tuned for deets on Pharaoh’s first report in either late June or early July and then the goods on CCI pup, Bernie, when he visits us for 10 days in July!

Today is Stewarts Root Beer Day. Are you a root beer fan? The only kind I can even swallow without gagging is the stuff at Cracker Barrel. And even then I only take one sip of SB’s.

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