Mistral Is 1 Year Old

As the title states Misty boy is a year old today!
Happy Birthday my crazy and wonderful little man.
Well I can't believe he has been in my life for a whole year, it seems as though it was only yesterday I was bringing this fluffy little polar bear of a pup home and after one day I was staring to wonder just what on earth I had signed myself up for.
He was a terror a lot of the time and I suspect he had selective hearing for the first three months, thankfully he was never much of a chewer and treasured his toys, in fact we still have all the toys we bought for him on that first day (except for the few Lestat got a hold off).
He loved the cats from the moment he met them and adopted Nightwish, who we now joke is his kitty (he spends time cleaning and playing with his cat) and was convinced our grumble bum of a cat Ahti would eventually fall in love with him (a year later and Ahti is still of the opinion that Mist is the bane of his existance) and is still trying.
I wont say it's been easy with him all the time. He is a bugger to walk on a loose leash unless he is in the obedinace or show ring, when he behaves very well and shows off for the crowd. He is a big barker with a high pitch noise that can really hurt when he feels he need to express himself in a vet clinic or similar type room.
There is not one nasty bone in his body and he believes everyone is his friend, they just don't know it yet. Even when we have had run ins with other dogs who have taken a violent dislike to him he bounced right back, not letting it bother him one bit, not to mention how good he has been for Lestat, they are the very best of friends and hate to be apart.

So here are some pics from the begining (warning there are quite a lot)

Birth, with mother Holly
The first time I met the pups (there where two litters at his breeders at the time) swarmed in a sea of white puppies, they where after my toes!
The first night at home, he was just so tiny!
And he got to exploring very quickly, he has never been afarid of anything!

Always slept in the most bizzare places.


Lestat took him under his wing and taught him everything he knew (and god did he put up with a lot!), now days Mist does the teaching.
Then my little boy began to grow into a young man, hitting the fuglies a few times when his coat when crazy! And his ears where going up and down all the time as his teeth came threw.




Eventually the right ear decided to stand and the left was the bane of my existance for a long time, I was worried that it would never stand up right but his breeder and a number of very helpful people gave me advice about it and not to worry and low and behold they where right . . . eventually.
Even though we had origionally bought Mist on a limit register and had no intention of ever showing him we still practised stacking and gaiting and offcause a little obediance.
He was always well behaved for grooming and baths.
But always managed to look utterly bored.
God he did grow fast, before I knew it he looked nothing like the darling pup I brought home on lovely autumn afternoon.
And got very depressed when he started to realise he was too big for my lap.
I don't think there has been one day they he does not love to play with Lestat.
His discovery of the beach was hilarious, I don't think he had ever been so happy and his show training was coming along really nicely now that we had been given the go ahead to show him, (the best decision we have made in a long time)

He was a calander boy twice for two different 2009 calanders.
Mr October
And Mr Feb
He adored christmas and definatly decided that candy canes where the best things ever but then was not too fond of visiting the relo's.


He is a social butterfly and has many friends, one of his favourites is a lovely Finnish Lapphund named Kivi Tarro. (first photo taken by Kivi's owner)

He met up again with his brother and sister, Barney and Star, and went to a few shows, doing well and then the intense heat showed its ugly self and he found another greatest passion, his pool!
From left to right, Mistral, Barney and Star

And finally here he is, 1 year old and totally out of coat but growing up nicely, into a beautiful, sweet, loving and utterly devoted little dog.
Mistral has sparked my utter adoration for this breed and I will never be without one of these amazing, charming and utterly unique little dogs.
They are worth their weight in gold and so much more.