This is the website for my puppy, Starr
where you get to see how she's growing
from 5 weeks old, on...

Julia chooses Starry Puppy on February 23, 2002

(NEW! Pictures of Bubba our newest puppy, December, 2002)


Starry was born on 1/18/2002 in Daly City, California. Starry is a Leonberger, a pure bred originating in the 1800s from a combination between a Saint Bernard, Great Pyrenees, and Newfoundland. She will be a mighty large dog when she grows up. But here at 5 weeks old, she is very small and cuddley.

I chose her of the litter because she ran up to me and started licking my face. But since the picture of Steve -- below -- is taken before this one, evidence points to that Steve actually chose her first. (Please ignore my hair in this picture. Just a bit of a bad hair day)

Here she is with her siblings in the background trying to get at their mother's teats. Starry will grow up to be as tall and as golden as her beautiful mother, Leah.


Steve with Starry. The breeder, Diane Brodeur of Lion Share, said that because this litter is the mother's second, they must have official names starting with B. I had already chosen the names "Starry Puppy" and more properly "Starry Night" two weeks earlier when we first saw the litter. So when we heard this, Steve gave her the Official Name "Belle Starr of Lion Share." Belle Starr was a female western outlaw in the Wild West, so that's a cool name. Starry Night is a great Van Gogh painting made in the 1800s and a lovely song by Don McLean from the 1970s.

 

Here is Starry with one of her brothers and her 3 sisters. The arrow points at Starry's head.
Here is Steve with Starry's Mom, Leah.

Here are pictures from her first week home
in Sebastopol, CA -- She is about 9 1/2 weeks old Here.

Starry asleep on my kitchen floor. Look how long her legs are already!

Look at that face! Isn't she a Starr?

Fuzz-head looking ever so innocent!
Here she is at almost 12 weeks old on April 10, 2002.
She's gettin' MIGHTY BIG!

Here are Starry's new friends, Izzy and Sheeba,
Steve's grown Leonbergers

To the left is Izzy and above is Sheeba. Izzy (male) is 4 years old and Sheeba (female) is 3 years old. They both love to play with Starry, though Izzy is a lot more patient with her jumping on him and biting his face!
These photos taken on 4/20/02.
Starry takes her first public walk on a leash

(Left) Look at this trio!
Have you every seen such beeeoootiful dogs?
And of course, Starr is taking center stage in this photo. What a glam girl she is.
(Right) Steve is walking Starry in the park.

These pics taken on May 5, 2002.
Starr is now just over 15 weeks old,
and is the size of a small adult dog!

Starry laying on the tiles. You can kinda tell how big she is by measuring against the tiles, which are about 10.5" square.

(Above & Below) Look at that profile! What a beauty queen. (Right) Sheeba in the back, Starry in front, catching some shade while the sun sparkles through the trees.
 
This pic taken on July 31, 2002.
Starr is now just over 6 months old,
already as tall as Sheeba.

Compare this photo with the one above, you can see how much her body has grown since May. She is almost full grown.

(Left). She has been in puppy training for over a month now and is learning to behave... at least some of the time. Here she is being a perfect angel. Looks can be deceiving... Earlier today I caught her trying to dig a hole under the fence and get to the road!

(Sorry about the long lapse in photos between July and December. I had lost my camera battery!)

December 18, 2002: Steve gets a new puppy, BUBBA!
And then there were FOUR!

and HERE's BUBBY>> Just a few days after we got him. Doesn't he look like a bunny from a Disney cartoon? And below is Starr in December 2002, just before we got Bubba.

(Left and Below) Bubba by my cottage on 12/29/02. He is growing by leaps and bounds. He also likes to drink most sloppily!

(Left) Starr is looking like the Jockette that she is. All those Amazon Herbs have made her quite energetic and athletic. (Below) Here she is in January 2003 running happily around with Bubba lagging behind.

 
(Left) Bubba in early February, 2003. He's gettin' pretty TALL! (Below) Starr and Bubba are the best of friends. Here they are on February 21, '03


Here's Bubba on February 23, 2003.
Yes, he is taking a pee, but I had to get him
when he was standing still!