King of the Mountain

This week was back to business as usual. My parents can tell that I've matured quite a bit from my young puppy days. Despite my more calm demeanor, I do still love all my toys. And I mean all my toys, at once. When I'm playing up on the couch, my mom likes to throw all of my soft toys at me, burying me in a pile of plush wonder. It is good to be king. Sometimes Leia even wants in on the action. She doesn't really participate, but likes to lie nearby.

So Many Changes!

It has been some time since my last blog entry, as things around here got all crazy! Mom and dad left to visit my grand puppy parents in California for a week. You could tell they were sad to leave, but I knew I'd have a great time with my local grand puppy parents watching me. And did we ever! We spent tons of time outdoors, and I think some of our meals were a bit larger than normal (thank you). The time flew by, and my parents returned on Saturday.

Apparently I had done some growing over the week they were gone, because they were commenting on how long and lean (not underfed) I was looking. I thought the world was looking a tad bit smaller from up here. I also lost my final puppy tooth at some point and now have a (not really) ferocious smile. Grrrrrr. I feel a bit calmer with age too, though still just as playful. Perhaps roughing it without my mommy around taught me to be a man! My nose wrinkle that I had as a young puppy continues to fade, however my wide-set eyes that lured my parents into selecting me are still as striking as ever. And perhaps the biggest change is that my dad decided to try feeding me a larger piece of meat and bone now, seeing if I would attempt to chew it, and I did! I ate all three pieces slowly, chewing each bite thoroughly. I'm not sure whether they were celebrating my maturity or the fact that they no longer need to chop all of my meals into small pieces... or a little bit of both.

Leia is the same sweet, yet somewhat Eeyore-like, dog she has always been. She too enjoyed all the outdoor time with the grand puppy parents, and is liking me even more as I calm down with age.

Chewy... well Chewy might need to ease up on the Fancy Feast. Those are some serious love handles!

Raspberry Robber

A recently established canine tradition in our home is raspberry robbing. I learned about this treat just this week when the raspberries ripened. My mom was over at the bushes and showed Leia that the fruit was ripe. Leia daintily sniffed around to locate the deep red berries and gently plucked them off, one by one. My mom pulled one off and held it out to me... and it was delicious! Unlike Leia, I went all in... snatching vines and leaves with the berries. When I get a little too excited, my mom calls me off the berries. I listen pretty well, though that is one of the first places I head when we go outside!

Apparently this tradition all started last year when my parents decided to see if their dogs, Napoleon (who passed away later that year) and Leia, would eat a raspberry. Well Napoleon sure did, and quickly picked up on where these sweet fruits were coming from. He would nose around and carefully pluck a ripe raspberry from the vine using his front teeth.

Leia enjoyed the treats but was a bit more cautious about plucking her own, as you can see in the picture below. It really wasn't until this year that she grew the confidence to gather her own snack.