Diego was born in our house at 4:45am on July 20, 2005, the fourth puppy born in our first litter. From the start, Diego was an easy-going, sweet little dude and even though he was the largest puppy in the litter box he was usually the one getting "beat up" by his pushier sisters! It was not our intention to keep a puppy from this litter but after Diego's prospective home fell through we realized that we had completely fallen in love with this goofy liver-nosed boy and we decided we just couldn't part with him.
Most experienced breeders will tell you that the largest puppy in a litter isn't usually the one that grows up to be the biggest. Diego is the exception to that rule as he has grown into a big dog! Luckily, he still has that sweet goofy temperament and many prospective puppy buyers who come to the house to meet our pack ends up wanting "another Diego". After helping his mom Garnet raise her second litter, he also earned the title "Chief Puppy Wrangler" and even now he cleans the muzzles of the other dogs as part of his morning routine.
Because he has been slow to develop, Diego has had limited success in the show ring and we have let him stay home to grow up over the past year. He has made good progress towards his ASFA lure coursing title and we're hoping he'll finish that next year. We're not sure what his future in the conformation ring holds, he is still filling out and maturing mentally, but he is turning into an impressive dog and we are looking forward to getting him out again in 2009 and giving it a try!