Winston is almost 8 years old and is a 150lb St. Bernard of just pure muscle. He and Sproetjies live outdoors, although Winston will gladly be a house dog (or even lap dog!) if we would allow it. Winston was rehomed 3 times (due to human problems, not Winston problems) before we found him. For the first year after we got him he would jump into my vehicle’s trunk every time I opened it. I would try and get him out but he would, sure that he is getting rehomed again. I would run my errands in town and then return home. He would jump out, all defensively but immediately would realize he knows this place. After one full year he stopped doing it and finally knew he was home. Forever.

Oldest of our pack is a short haired St. Bernard named Sproetjies. “Sproetjies'“ is the Afrikaans word for “freckles”. When she was little she had the most adorable bunch of freckles on her nose. Now, almost 8 years old, she is all muscle weighing in at 155lbs. She often gets mistaken for a male because of her brute size yet her heart is smaller than a pea! She enjoys keeping the coyotes out of our yard and I’m sure there are a few coyotes out there that have regretted ever meeting her. Sproetjies belongs to my husband Manie and I would have to admit this dog is the love of his life!

Nina is a long haired applehead Chihuahua. She is 6 years old and is a total fashionista and very sassy! She puts all the other dogs in their place when needed, big and small. Nina is severely food driven and if she gets a chew bone she hides it so that no one can ever find it. Except Nina. She has randomly shown up out of nowhere with a bone that she got 6 months ago! She is also an OCL. Yes, she is an Obsessive Compulsive Licker. No explaining needed. Nina is furbaby to my oldest daughter Nicci but everytime she has to sleep with me I am truly amazed and shocked at the loud snoring that comes out of that tiny body!

Lizzy, our blue eye (yes, eye, since she has one blue and one brown eye) mini dapple Dachshund is 4 years old and belongs to my son Jandro. They are lazy together and crazy together. And true to her breed, her personality is larger than life! She is also very confident and if you put a life jacket on that dog she thinks she is Kate Winslet in the Titanic movie. She stands on the tip of the kayak and basically dramatically dives in! I think she thinks she is a great swimmer but alas, as weenies go, she is not. Then we would grab her out of the water, only for her to shake it off and walk to the front tip of the kayak again and do the same thing. Lizzy can get away with murder since she has her grandma wrapped around her little paw.

Sir Winlsow Charles Huxley, a distinguished gentleman, joined our pack 3 years ago and he is the apple of my eye. Yes, Winslow is all mine. He is a tri-coloured English Cocker Spaniel and gets often mistaken for a Springer Spaniel. He also looks like an old guy with those droopy eyes. Winslow was knighted in 2022 at the Peace Park, overlooking the Prince of Wales Hotel in Waterton Lakes National Park. No, he was not knighted by the Queen, but by his mother, the Queen of the house (and I have the video to prove it). There is NOTHING this boy wouldn’t do for a ball. I once served him two plates for his birthday: one with steak and one with a Chuckit ball. He did not even sniff the steak!

Our latest member of the pack is Barney. He is a little German Biewer Yorkshire Terrier, weighing in at 8lbs and is the fur baby to my daughter Linka. German Biewers is an officially recognized breed and have been developed from the tri-coloured recessive gene found in Yorkshire Terriers. Biewer Terriers therefore have white also where the traditional Yorkie has only black and tan. Barney is 2 years old. He loves cuddling with his mom and like chasing after Chuckit balls with his brother Winslow. This little man can jump incredibly high for his tiny size and is just like a bouncy ball!