Bliss

Bliss (blis) n. 1. supreme happiness; utter joy or contentment

photo of BlissBliss was our 2ndEntlebucher. Gina went to Slovakia to get her in 1997. When she arrived Shaman was so happy.. she finally got a baby sister!

Bliss lived up to her name. She brought SO much happiness and joy to us, Shaman and to everyone around her as she always had this mischievous smile on her face. She loved to play above all else. I remember many times when a small child would play with her. The child would throw the ball 2 feet and she would enthusiastically pounce on it and bring it back to the child. The giggles from that child were priceless. We had many nicknames for Bliss: Blissty, Blissterella, Spazerella, Blipt, Blipty, Littyloo, and so on… One of our favorite memories is Bliss at the ocean, her favorite place. She would smell the salty water when we were 2 miles away and would start whining–the only time she ever whined. Once she got to the beach, she would grab her football and take off running over the dunes down to the water and then run back to us with the happiest smile on her face.

Bliss passed over the Rainbow Bridge in December of 2009 a couple weeks before Christmas. She loved opening presents for Christmas so we had an early Christmas for her as we knew she was dying of lymphoma. She loved chewing off the Christmas wrapper to discover the BALL or treats inside. That was always the best of the holidays… buying presents for her and Shaman.

We have left what we wrote about her on our original website because it really captures her personality and the breed and of course our line since she is Ammo’s Grandmother and Zendo’s Great Grandmother.

photo of Bliss and Bailey“ I was born on August 7, 1997 in the Slovak Republic. I was 8 weeks old when two nice ladies came to my home from North America. Karen Runge is from Montreal and my sister, Blessed Love (Baca) is living with her and her family. The other lady has the same name as my mom – Gina. She took my brother, Baron Bailey, and me back to Oregon with her. Bailey and I had a fun time playing with the flight attendants on the plane during our long trip to America.

Bailey lives in Spokane, WA with Teri Beeman and I live with Gina, her partner Kathy, my best dog friend, Shaman and my cat buddy, Tarzan. I have lots of room to play which is my favorite thing to do. Gina and Kathy have lots of friends visit me, both two legged and four legged. They say I am a playhound because I will play with balls for hours and hours. I remember one summer day when I was 2 years old, a teenage boy visited with his dad. We played ball and stick and ran and jumped for five hours. Later that evening, I was ready to go again and dropped a tennis ball in Gina’s lap and gave her that ‘Play with me’ look. She couldn’t believe I could want to play after all that running. But that’s what I am best at .. playing. I know my balls by name: basketball, tennis, football and soccer. So when Kathy or Gina says, ‘Go get soccer’ I know which one to go get. I think my favorite is my football because it squeaks. When no one plays with me I hike the ball between my legs so I can retrieve it myself.

Actually, there are a lot of other things that I enjoy doing besides playing ball. I know over 50 words and phrases and want to learn more. I love to go hiking and even swimming. I know that word, “swimming”. The ocean is my favorite water. I will go in the salty water if my ball is thrown in there. Oops, I am talking about my ball again. I like to help my sister herd the goats and best of all after a long hard play I love to get on the couch and cuddle with my mommies. And if they are not available I cuddle with Shaman and Tarzan. I love being close to my family. I am also a good guard dog, I was taught it’s OK to bark real loud when I hear a car or someone coming, so when people come I bark and bark and then when I see that they are friendly I go and get a toy, well actually I go get a ball and have them throw it for me.

Photo of Bliss loved to swim with her footballI love other dogs too, once I sniff them and make sure they are friendly. I love to play chase and run around with something in my mouth and not let them have it. I like playing tug of war with my other dog friends. I am very tolerant of other dogs too. I am not an alpha dog so maybe that is why so many other dogs like me. I have one friend that follows me everywhere I go and keeps nipping at my back to get me to stop. I just ignore her sometimes and keep playing with my ball. Oops there’s that ball again.. The only time that I do not live up to my name is when my friends go home or when I feel sick, then I mope and my ears droop. But 99.5% of the time I am all “BLISS.”

I have had some really great babies too, you can see their pictures here. My mommies follow the European standard of letter naming litters, so each litter starts with a letter depending on how many litters the kennel has. My litters have been the C, E and F.  You can also read some testimonials from the families that have my babies. I am so glad they are all with great families as my breed is not for everybody. My mommies are really good at making sure that my babies are matched to just the right people.”

Bliss’s brother Bailey died in 2010 and as of 12/2011 her sister Baca is still living in Nova Scotia with her owner Karen Runge.