#TBT

It is #ThrowBackThursday! Sorry for not posting last week, as you may expect we were a bit distracted and grieving. We cannot thank all of our wonderful friends and family enough for all of their love and support they have sent our way! For this throwback Thursday we thought it would be fun to share a picture of Sharkie and Remora.

This is from a Christmas vacation with our extended family several years ago. In typical Wheatie fashion Sharkie and Remora were always willing to be part of the "pack" and lend a paw, but mostly they were making sure they didn't get left behind!

-Turnercamp

Trusting when it's hard

As we continue to grieve the loss of Miss. Gracie we wanted to reach out and thank everyone for the love and support. You have no idea how much it means to us. Our breeder Alice sent us this beautiful note that we found gave us strength and thought we would share it with you all. 
-Turnercamp

I am still shocked by the news and my heart is so heavy for you all.  I wish I could be there and hug and cry with you.  This is so hard to go through especially the first time you were going to whelp a litter.  You did not get to experience the joy but started with the heartache.  One of my favorite Bible verses is Romans 8:28,

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."Over the years this verse and others have comforted me though all of life's trials and heartaches.  He gives me peace when I give Him my tears and I trust that He will redeem this tragedy.  I am praying for peace and comfort for you all.  Gracie had a wonderful life with your family and she will great us again when we meet in Heaven. Thank you for your loving care for her and her pups.  

Much love,  

Alice 

Day 53

Life is an adventure. We have experiences that evoke the best of emotions. We cherish these experiences, smile, laugh, and enjoy the incredible life we live. Gracie provided my family with an amazing experience. She came into my life in sunny Venice, FL, a pleasant surprise. I enjoyed the vacation with my family in Florida and will remember the walks with Gracie and the alligators forever. Gracie had a spark to her despite the below average size, and without a doubt a huge heart. Gracie was a proud mother of two litters, and our vacation my father said that we were going to care for her during another pregnancy. At first I thought this was by far the best joke my father has ever told.

Fifty-three days ago my family began the adventure, led by the experience of Gracie, our close friend and Wheaten breeder Alice, our incredible vet Sunny, and the stud named Romeo. This was another Turner family adventure. We joined forces to start this blog, construct a whelping box, and prepare ourselves for a spectacular event. It became another experience to share with our friends and laugh about.

Unfortunately life has misfortunes. Happily cuddled in my father’s lap Gracie passed away. We rushed to an emergency care veterinary clinic but their efforts were unsuccessful to save Gracie or her pups. We will always be grateful for Gracie’s contributions to our family, and we will always have our memories of Gracie. We will remember Gracie and share the stories of her snuggling up in laundry baskets, being a companion, roughhousing with Grady, and avidly loving camping with her family.

The Turner family would like to recognize all who helped us during the process. We will continue to share stories on our Wheaten Wag’n blog, sharing the process of renovating our trailer, cleverly named the Wheaten Wag’n.
-Trevor Turner

Sympathy Pregnancy

While Gracie has been growing puppies in her belly our boy Grady has not been sitting idly. At first he was totally jealous of her being fed more often in the day and packed on a few pounds himself as a result of sympathy treats. At this point, however, Gracie has been eating so often that Grady is even a bit taken aback. Grady has since focused on taking AKC’s Canine Good Citizen Test.

When we got Grady we immediately noticed his pure love of people and snuggling. In general, this is a strong trait in Wheaties, but more than any other dog we have had Grady REALLY wants to be petted as often as possible. With his extra loving temperament we (and our breeder) thought Grady could be a really excellent therapy dog. Visiting people in need to help them feel better would give him so much joy. So, we started training Grady just over a year ago, and just this week he passed the Good Citizens Test! This is the first major step towards becoming a certified therapy dog. Several places near us will now allow him to come visit since he has passed this step and we are really excited to see how he likes it. You can learn more about the Good Citizens test on the AKC website, but it essentially means that Grady is good with strangers, behaves on a leash, is calm around other dogs, and is happy to be pet/brushed anywhere.

Grady really is a good boy and is thrilled to be in the spotlight. Whenever we take him out in public places many people admire him, we can tell he really enjoys this because he is totally an attention seeker. When we were in Savannah to pick up Gracie we took a trolley tour of the city and Grady was allowed to ride along with us. He loved snuggling with us on the trolley benches and made lots of human friends, especially girls. He is such a babe magnet.

We cannot wait to start taking Grady to share his love with the world and will continue to keep you all updated as we proceed to get him fully certified!

-Turnercamp 

#ThrowBackThursday

In the social media world many people post old pictures of themselves on Thursdays, which they call "throw back Thursday". We thought this would be a great idea for the blog. We may even include a fun story about our dogs every now and then. So here is our first throwback:

Remora, Christmas 2010

In other news the Gracie and Grady seem unsure about the weather finally warming up. Gracie in particular has sought out the cold bathroom tiles as a place to rest her ever growing belly. This afternoon we will be visiting our vet for another check up. The visits mostly are to make sure she is steadily gaining weight as the puppies arrival approaches, but one time we did an ultrasound for fun to see the little pups! Our vet was thrilled to see healthy beating hearts, but our personal favorite was seeing one's perfect tiny face! Much to all of our delight the puppy lifted its paw to its face and appeared to proceed to lick it. We cannot wait to see all the cute things they do as puppies! 

Happy Thursday!

-Turnercamp

Hello!

Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers are becoming more and more popular every year, in part because of their loving & excitable nature!

We are the Turner family and we have had “Wheaties” for over 15 years. Our first two, Sharkie and Remora, were purchased as puppies from Coventry Farms in Savannah, GA. We spent a long time looking at different breeds and determining what would work best for our family. When we picked the Wheaten Terrier we honestly were not expecting to fall in love with the breed as much as we did. They are great family pets that are very energetic, playful, spirited, and best of all, they don’t shed. 

The family with Remora and Sharkie

We were heartbroken when we lost our first two and knew we needed more company to join our family pack. The kids were away at college and our home was too quiet! So we again contacted our breeder in Savannah and this time adopted a full-grown dog. Grady joined our family in 2011. 

Grady

This past winter we knew it was time for Grady to have a companion, so we took Gracie from Coventry Farms. We knew when we got her that the breeder wished to breed her again. The problem was we fell so in love with her and she adapted so well to us that we couldn’t bare the thought of being without her for a few months while she whelped a litter. Plus, how much fun are puppies! Gracie has just over a week till we expect to welcome her sweet little puppies to the world!

 Gracie (adjusting to colder winters!)

We plan to use this blog to keep friends and family updated (with lots of pictures!) of Gracie and her puppies. If you or anyone you know may be interested in buying a pup, let us know! (Glenn and Alice are handling that part).

One day we may use this blog to share about some of our other passions, such as camping and gardening! Which are also Grady and Gracie’s favorite pastimes.

Check back with us again soon!

-Turnercamp

(Glenn, Jessica, Arley, Trevor, Grady, Gracie & Coventry Farms breeder Alice)