Henry Hart, DVM

Lois Hunkele, DVM

Trey Newell, DVM

          Pearl Bytes

        11/01/05

                                        

We would like to introduce you to Dr. Hart’s new addition to his family, Pearl. She is a white female lab five and a half weeks old being held by her mother.  It’s been a while since there was a baby in the house, so if he becomes too vociferous in the exam room explaining the care and feeding of your pup, you know why! Don’t tell him you heard it here, but Pearl is destroying all his theories on housetraining, socialization, how to stop biting, etc. We’ll get back with you every month or so to keep you up on Pearl’s progress, or Dr. Hart’s education, which ever it might be.

Pearl Bytes

1-12-06

 

Help! I’m living with a sharp toothed T. Rex named Pearl.  Unfortunately, the normal puppy need to exercise her masseter muscles has not been met with the cases of chew toys and rawhides she’s been through.  Berber carpet and leather couches seem to offer exotic tastes and the ever present excitement of getting caught!  Enter the number one problem, her superior intelligence combined with hardheadedness; ham strings the normal progression of learning the Hart’s house and yard rules.  Pearl understands quickly what is expected of her, but finds it much more interesting to see what she can get away with.  “Me leader-you happy follower” somehow just doesn’t quite square with her liberal, progressive idealistic concept of life.  Hopefully that will change with maturity.

As you can see I have my hands full and love every minute.  I’m depending on two things: one that I’m more hard headed than she, and two, just like my grandfather said “It only takes one thing to train a dog- you to be just a little smarter than the dog-not much, just a little”.

 

P.S.

As you can see from the pictures, Pearl enjoys hunting and is having some difficulty with Otis the Man’s rules.

 

Pearl Bytes

4/17/2006

Everyone in my family and most of my friends think I’ve finally “gone round the bend”.  I sent Pearl to college!  This was not a spontaneous nor casually researched decision. As a matter of fact I considered Yale and Harvard, but being as we’re not alumni, rich, or members of a subversive group, we settled on Thomas Tech, located in Pavo, Georgia.  Tracy Davis is her P.T., and I’m sure she’ll be glad when Pearl graduates in three months.  I’m really trying to limit my calls to find out how she’s doing, and Tracy has been so nice to accentuate the positive and tell me I’m not really bothering her.  As of this writing, she’s been gone for 2 ½ weeks, and I miss her severely.

As best as I can tell from our conversations, Pearl will have “talks too much” but “plays well with others” on her first six week report card.  When Tracy asked me why Pearl couldn’t swim I replied “It’s been far too cold this winter for such a baby to be exposed to the elements”.

I’m trying to stay positive about my Pearl being away for so long.  Knowing that she’ll be able to quote Shakespeare, solve calculus problems, and break the Da Vinci Code somehow is not softening the empty feeling I have inside.  Everyone misses her except for Elle, our Corgi, who hopes Pearl never comes home.

Stay tuned.

Pearl Bytes

1/4/2007

Post Graduation

           

            Pearl made it through her three months of training faring better than we did. Ann and I went down to visit for parent’s weekend about half way through her stay with Tracy. She definitely remembered us and was excited to see us but was all business when Tracy started her formal routine. It became quickly evident that the connection between Tracy and Pearl was tight, and directly related to electricity. I was amazed at how well Pearl performed.

            The next step was for me to get trained. I learned proper whistle etiquette, hand signals and voice commands. I have to admit that Pearl learned faster than I, but then again I refused to wear that shock collar!

            Finally, graduation came. As Tracy gave me last minute instructions on maintaining strict discipline, I tried to suppress my excitement about getting Pearl home. I didn’t tell her that we were leaving the next day for a pet friendly house at St. George Island. It was my birthday and Pearl and I would behave exactly as we wished. Summer break has never been so much fun!