Our hearts belong to our Saints...

    Our lives have been touched by Saint Bernards for over twelve years. It all started with a purebred AKC registered stud dog named Sparkling Rivers Elmwood. Lovingly known as Dooly.

Dooly was a remarkable example of the versatility of the Saint Bernard. He was a rust colored smooth coat with a dry mouth, so the slobbering was minimal. Dooly never was one to stray off, but he was well known for his daily walk-abouts of our property's boundary's. Dooly was a phenomonal swimmer, and several times would drag Casey or one of her friends in to shore if they got to tired. One of Dooly's favorite activities was what we called Dock-ball. One of us would stand on the end of the dock and hit a ball way out into the lake. Dooly would take a flying leap off the dock and fetch the ball- all day if we had the energy.

Dooly's other favorite activity was riding in the truck, or van, or car. He really didn't mind what it was, as long as he got to go with. Thank goodness for hatchbacks and four door pick-ups!

Dooly sired a few litters of puppies, and all of them found homes quickly. His very last litter was a blessed surprise. Our female Poof gave birth to 7 healthy puppies on March 17th of 2006. One of these puppies was going to be kept as Dooly was nearing his 12th year. Bandit had the luck of growing up with his father, and sadly, we did lose Dooly later that year in September. He went to sleep in my arms after a truck ride with the family. Bandit made the loss a little easier, and he believes that the sun rises and sets on Casey.

Bandit learned early how to carry a pack and pull a sled. He is as smart as Dooly was, and we often have to wipe a tear away when Bandit does what we call a "Dooly-ism". Bandit is a light rust colored smooth coat like his father, but he has a bit of a wetter mouth. Nothing to drastic, but obvious to us.

Bandit is now joined by Ubut00. Our very first rough coated Saint! Ubutoo is a dark Mahogany, and comes from dry mouthed parents. Ubutoo's name is special to us, as it is part of a nickname, Ubu, that we had for Dooly, and being that the new pup is so similarly marked like Dooly, he is number two or too for "also". So put together, we got Ubutoo.

Saint Bernards are wonderful family dogs, great protectors, and happy to be with their families. People think they eat you out of house and home, but we have never found that to be true. Our dogs are all spoiled as they each have a favorite piece of furniture.