Recent Happenings and A Post about the Human-Canine Bond

So! It's been a while. Recent happenings:

1. I got my hair cut. A lot. Three times, actually, before I finally felt like it was right. That's never happened before. My hair now looks like this:

2. Miles has hit the 60-pound mark. He will also be eleven months old at the end of the month, and you know what that means: BIRTHDAY PARTYYYY!

3. Miles destroyed every fitted sheet that we own at some point of the past two months. You see, what we started doing was leaving him out of his crate but double-baby-gating the door so that he can't jump over (that's one thing that the cats were willing to teach him - how to jump over a baby gate - so we had to make alternative arrangements), and taking everything that was potentially dangerous out of the bedroom. So, that made for a fitted sheet, and the curtains (and he ruined the curtain rod on the first day of this), and my side table. He'll learn, and it was my fault as well, because I didn't give him anything to occupy his time, so he was all "HEY! A TOY! I'M GOING TO DESTROY IT!"

4. We put up our Christmas tree in an unwittingly smart way - tree first for one week (which we couldn't really help - Rob put up the tree and it was a week before I had time to help put all of the fixings on), then decorations. He only plays with the tree skirt from time to time, and the cats are more of a danger to the tree than he is. It hasn't even fallen down once this year, which is an enormous victory.

5. I think that the cats are going through the "Just this one last push of meanness to the dog before we finally accept that he's going to be around, likely for the rest of our lives" stage. They have been so mean to Miles the past few days that it's not even funny. He is now legitimately scared of them, and I feel terrible about that.

6. I took a long hiatus from knitting - about a month. It was necessary, I think, and the project that got me back into it, and the subject of today's blog? This one:



My doggy day care woman, who I have come to really enjoy being around, had an akita. It's a very long-haired breed of dog, and when she brushed him, she saved his hair. When he died, it was really, really hard on her. People just get these bonds with their animals, and I completely get it. So, with all of this dog hair, her husband took it to a company called Hair of the Dog, and had it wound into yarn for their anniversary. Totally sweet, right? She asked me to knit her a scarf out of it. It still smelled like him and everything. I brought it to her and she was occupied, so her daughter took it. I was able to catch up with her the next day, and she was getting emotional just talking to me about how happy she was with it. I love that the things that I'm capable of doing have the ability to comfort someone just when they need it. At that moment, I realized that that's what the act of knitting was doing for me - giving me comfort exactly when I needed it. I don't do it as much as I used to, but when I need to work something out or just sit quietly but still want to be occupied, that's what I do.

Miles serves much of the same purpose for me - it's been a tough few weeks for me, emotionally. The holidays always are. On my hardest days, Miles has been there with his adorable puppy smile, just happy to be around. Every once in a while, I look at him and think "MAN, are we lucky to have this little man in our lives." No matter how bratty he can be sometimes, it always comes back to that.



Miles is such a good boy. :)

Running with your dog and what to do when it's raining

I've heard numerous things about running with dogs - namely:

1. Never, ever run while your dog is still growing.

2. Wait until the dog is at least a year old.

3. Wait until the dog is at least two years old.

4. Never run on pavement.

5. Always run off leash.

I have come to realize that there are as many opinions on this subject as there are breeds of dog. Also, a lot of the suggestions that I've read are downright impractical. Off-leash? Right. When my dog sprouts wings and learns to fly is the day he will be taken off leash.

We have decided to use the one-year rule, mostly because Miles has pretty much stopped growing. He'll get wider, to be sure, but his paws now fit his legs. I'm not that worried about it. I read this article and found that it made the most sense. There are two main reasons not to run with a dog before they're full-grown:

1. Their growth plates haven't closed. If you run with them for long periods of time on things like pavement, it will cause irreparable damage to their joints, which has obvious implications.

2. Their heart could become enlarged from being worked too hard while it was still growing.

Both of these things make sense, and now that Miles is a ripe 9 months old, I've really started thinking about just jogging with him a little bit. So, for the past two days, I've jogged -very- short distances with him. Yesterday I tried it with the collar - no dice. He pulls way too hard, because he thinks I'm chasing him and is trying to get away. Not only is that teaching him to pull, it's also teaching him that he should run away from me. No thanks on either count. Today, I tried it with the easy walk and had him run next to me (and when I say "run", i mean quick trot. This dog has large legs.). It really, really worked. So, Miles will start training with me and it will be awesome. Being that I'm still getting over the Ebola of The Century, my lungs still cannot support running long distances, which is perfect, because Miles' can't run quickly yet, either.

What else did I want to talk about? Oh, right. What to do when it's raining, like it has been for approximately 4,000 days.

So, the past few days, I have not wanted to take Miles outside.

"It's raining."

"He hates the rain."

"I hate the rain."

"It's raining. I don't want to go anywhere."

Lather, rinse, repeat.

I woke up feeling awesome this morning (by comparison, I had barely been able to get out of bed for the past two weeks, I was feeling so gross) and went to the chiropractor, which made me feel even MORE awesome. So, it was decided - no matter what it was doing outside, Miles and I were going for a walk. He needed exercise (so did I, for that matter) and I just wanted to get him outside.

We walked/jogged for approximately two miles, and it was awesome. Because of the rain, he was a bundle of energy, even when we got home (where he usually flops on the floor and sleeps for hours).

What this taught me is that dogs need exercise, regardless of what it's doing outside. I mean, really - what are we going to do when winter comes? Not take him out to exercise? Just leave him inside all day long every day? That's really unfair to him and will make him both bored and destructive, as well as make him really, really unhealthy. So, as winter marches closer, that is the pledge I'm making to our dog: to exercise him no matter what the weather. Plus, the close second on my List of Favorite Things to Do is walking Miles - it gives us bonding time, and lets me praise him all the time, which he so loves and deserves, because he's such a good boy.

The mark of an Amazing Business and an article on Predatory Drift

Readers, I had a very stressful morning.

Let me preface with the fact that two weeks ago, give or take, I read this article.

This morning, it all started when I brought Miles to daycare. I dropped him off, and someone was waiting outside, and they had a beautiful dog. I said hi to the dog in my little "you're-so-stinkin'-cute" voice, and started to make my way toward the dog without asking. If I were being responsible, and had I thought it through, I should have asked.

I started to make my way toward him to pet him, and and without warning, the dog bared his teeth, started growling and barking, and it was at this point that I stopped. He then lunged toward me (luckily, he was leashed, otherwise I'm pretty sure I'd be in the hospital right now...he was about a 70-pound dog), ready to attack. His owner was yelling "DOWN!" at him, to no avail. He was ready to turn on her as well when the owner's husband came out and made him lay down right on the pavement. I rushed to my car just as the dog started to lunge, and sat there until it was safe to go. I felt terrible, and continued to on my way into work.

My terrible feelings were both that the situation was my fault, and also worry that Miles might be in danger. I know that the owner of his daycare exercises common sense, but I didn't assume that she didn't admit him for the day. I figured she would isolate him until he calmed down, and have him play with the dogs when she was absolutely sure he was ok. I figured it was something about me that made him afraid, and he would be fine once I left and was able to take a minute.

Not able to let it go, I texted the owner of the daycare to apologize, and she said to me to not worry about it one bit, and that he would not be admitted back into the daycare until his behavior was addressed and she could be sure that that would never happen again.

This tells me two things about this daycare:

1. Safety of her clients, both of the human and canine persuasions, is paramount to her.

2. Safety is so paramount, she is willing to lose clients in order to ensure the safety of everyone.

Truth be told, she was in danger too. I was not even anywhere near this dog when he started to come after me, and what if she had done that to her, in a place that not only is a dog not regularly leashed, but also not even collared? Either her or someone in her family could have been seriously, seriously hurt by this dog. But there are many business owners that would put the Almighty Dollar over anything else in this situation, and when I think about how she didn't, it makes me even more sure (as if I needed to be) that we picked the right place to send Miles when we need someone to take care of him during the day.

I checked out three other places for daycare before landing on Lucky Paws, and the owner, Christine, was the only one that offered to have me come in and take a look around with Miles. She introduced me to the other dogs, and let Miles play when we came - she was interviewing us as we were interviewing her. She really works hard to make sure that all dogs are safe in her care, and today, it showed. She kept a cool head (at least in front of me), and handled the situation as any responsible business owner would or should. I read that article a couple of weeks ago, and as someone who's neurotic, I worried that something like that would happen at daycare to Miles. However, she has two separate areas - one for small dogs and one for large dogs. All of the dogs that Miles plays with are his size or very close to it in either direction, and after today, I no longer worry one bit about Miles' safety from things like predatory drift while he's there. I know, without a doubt, that she would never put Miles in a situation where something like that could happen. Not that I didn't know that he was safe before, but sometimes I just get that affirmation, ya know?

So, while this morning was scary to be sure, by the time I had resolved it in my own brain, I felt even more confident about many things related to Miles. For that, I am thankful.

With that, I will go pick up Miles, and leave you with this picture. We had him for two weeks, and I am pretty sure that we were on our way for him to meet his cousin Yogi for the first time. Look at his little face. He's such a good boy.

Mmmmm...marrow bones.

We've always been hearing from fellow dog owners that marrow bones are the cat's meow. For dogs. They love the taste, it keeps them occupied, and they're just all around awesome.

So, we finally broke down and bought one for Miles. It REALLY helps with the chewing, and it literally kept him occupied all night last night.

However, I definitely had a moment of panic when I realized that he was able to chew off chunks of bone from the side instead of just hollowing it out. I had heard that it's really dangerous to feed dogs bones because they splinter in their stomach, and that's exactly where my brain went, and I was like "WEHAVETOTAKEITAWAYFROMHIMRIGHTNOWORHE'SGOINGTOGETSPLINTERSINHISSTOMACHANDDIE!"
Rob, the cooler head of the two of us, said, "I really don't think that's going to happen, but we can take it away if you want."

So, of course, when my husband and I have such polar opposite reactions, because he's had a family dog before that he can remember, I always have to find out why he's right. It turns out that only cooked bones have the splintering danger, and Miles wasn't chewing off huge chunks, so it wasn't a big deal. Crisis averted. Chew away, Miles. Chew away.


The big thing that I want to talk about today is antibiotics. Over the past few years, I have really adopted an anti-antibiotic stance. I try to avoid them at all costs for myself, and so does Rob. They do terrible things to humans, not the least of which is diminishing ability to fight infections on our own. Animals are no different. Miles is now on his fourth round of them since we've had him, and knowing how much antibiotics can damage humans, and my research about how damaging they can be for dogs, naturally I'm pretty worried about it. I am also starting to realize that the lesson here is to check him whenever he comes home from daycare for cuts and clean them immediately, because that's how two of the infections have happened. We generally don't have to put him on antibiotics for very long (one course was three days, two were five), but this time the infection was bad, so we have to give them to him for fourteen days.

We have been feeding him probiotics with his food (alternating with the antibiotics, and with breakfast and dinner when he's not on antibiotics) in order to promote healthy bacteria growth in his gut, and it seems to be serving him just fine. But the idea of prevention of these infections is more compelling to me, because I would really like to not have him on antibiotics at all if I can help it. It can cause a whole host of problems, like bloat, food allergies, and secondary infections because of lack of good bacteria, just to name three of the laundry list I've found.

So, I think that solving this issue is going to take a plan from two angles: Checking him whenever we get home from anywhere for cuts and to clean them immediately, and looking for natural remedies so that we can avoid antibiotics altogether. It looks like I'm not the only dog owner who's worried about this, and this blog looks like a great start. :) I'm going to also talk to my vet and do some more research to figure this out.

For now, I will leave you with an adorable picture of Miles chewing on his favorite thing on earth, his marrow bone.

He's such a good boy.

Miles has a new favorite toy!

The laser pointer! Watching him play with it is actually better than tv.

Plus, it provides rainy day stimulation and fun, which is important because we don't walk when it's raining.

In other news, we left Miles home alone for longer than 3 or 4 hours for the first time today. We kept him crated because we're still concerned that he'll rip the house apart, but overall, it was wildly successful.

We're also working on the barking, which is helping. We were at the beach yesterday, with TONS of stimulation, and he hardly barked at all, and only when he wanted to play because a ball got too close to him or someone walked by too quickly. So, we're working on the patience aspect of it from my end and it's definitely working.

Have I also mentioned that Miles is so good at self-entertainment that it's awesome? When we don't want to play and he does, he goes to his bucket-o-toys, and picks one out and throws it around, probably pretending it's one of us throwing it. Then he throws and chases. And throws and chases. It's hilarious to watch.

I heart my dog.

He's such a good boy.

It finally happened.

Yes, readers. It was bound to happen at some point, and Monday, boy did it EVER.

I lost every shred of my patience with my dear sweet dog.

Now, there have been times where my patience has run thin, to be sure, but in the five months (tomorrow) that we have owned Miles, I had never, ever lost my patience with him. Have I been close? Yes. Have I completely lost it? No.

Until Monday.

Now, the barking has been a problem. A large problem. One that we are working with and trying to eliminate as much as possible, but regardless, still his biggest challenge.

I bring him to work with me on Mondays, and this particular one, I had a webinar. It involved a conference call. One of my coworkers walked by my office, and he started barking at her, right in the middle of said webinar.

He continued to bark until I got flustered, and told my dog to SHUT UP. Then he didn't, so I started yelling. My patience? Gone.

I brought him outside to pee, and was still angry. He knew it, and was upset about it. We both continued to be upset when we got back up to my office, and after a few minutes, it dawned on me:

He's just a dog. He was acting on his instincts (which are particularly heightened when he comes to work with me, what with all of the smells of all kinds of different animals and procedures that are done in our office building), and he's always on heightened alert when he's with me at the office. I need to take that into account and act accordingly.

Readers, I was not doing my job as his owner. I was punishing him for simply acting on his instinct, instead of showing him that there was no reason to be afraid, or redirecting so that the barking would stop, which is exactly what I should have done. I scared him by yelling, and he didn't understand, as he shouldn't have, because he was just being a dog.

I read a lot of articles by Gail Fisher, and she's got a lot of amazing viewpoints. Her overreaching viewpoint in everything that she teaches is that a dog is a dog is a dog. They have certain things built into their instincts (just as humans do!), and that can't be helped. It can be worked on, but in any situation, they will act on their instincts if necessary. In moments of frustration where I don't know what to do, I turn to the articles she writes and it helps me.

Anywho, his "misbehaviors" (I put that in quotations because a lot of people see barking, chewing, etc. as misbehavior when they are actually either instinct or a symptom of a problem like boredom), once I re-thought it and realized that he was just doing what his instincts were telling him to do, made me feel better. So I apologized, gave him a good scritch and a kiss, and he was happy again. Good thing puppies don't hold grudges.

The lesson in this for me is what I try to tell myself at least once a day - Miles is a good boy. He's a GREAT dog. He's smart, he's funny, and he's just a joy to be around, always. It's my job to teach him what is appropriate, and to redirect and try to change those habits of his that are not desirable and redirect into something more situationally appropriate. That's my job, not his. His only job is to be a dog.

Since this moment of realization, I have been markedly more patient with Miles. I don't yell, I haven't gotten impatient even once, and I really am trying to work with him and love him in the way that he truly deserves, and he's responding in kind - no more frightened behavior, and it has brought us closer than any training I've done with him yet. Plus, now that I don't yell or get impatient, he listens. I don't have to be stern, just firm. I don't have to yell, I just have to be sure of what I am asking him to do. Those are not one and the same.

So, this week has taught me a big lesson in dog ownership, and I am really hoping that I can continue this trend, because the closeness with Miles will be worth it. He is such a good boy.

Puppy Hiccups and Barfing...awesome topics, I know.

So, Miles has been hiccuping a lot lately. He also eats so fast that he barfs.

I think that this has to do with the fact that he's growing like a weed currently (I am noticing a difference a little every day, and I think this is his last push before he's full grown). I sat down and looked up puppy hiccuping yesterday, and found that it's actually very common in puppies, particularly when they're growing, because their insides are growing too and they need to adjust to his eating patterns. Everywhere that I read said also that it's only normal in puppies, so if he is over a year and it is still happening, then it's time to talk to the vet.

Miles has eaten very fast since the day we got him. His feeding schedule is 7am, around 1pm, and 7pm, give or take. The only time it really gives him trouble is in the morning, and I think he eats so fast because after twelve hours of not eating at all, he is absolutely famished. So, he totally scarfs his food, whines and absolutely HOWLS for about three minutes, and then barfs. We used to feed him a wet/dry combo in the morning, and when we stopped and did only dry in the morning, the barfing seemed to subside.

Then, I was dropping Miles off at doggy day care early this week, and she brought it up, asking how he was doing with the fast eating. He had just barfed that morning and I told her so, and then she showed me this bowl:

It forces a dog to eat between the rivets and slows their eating significantly. When I say significantly, if this bowl had no rivets and was full of food, Miles would have emptied it in less than 30 seconds. With this bowl, it takes upwards of 3 minutes. He likes to chew on the bowl, and eventually he just knocks the bowl over, which knocks all of the food onto the floor, but he did pretty well with it, his own impatience aside.

It was good for us to get this for him, because it will prevent a very dangerous condition called bloat. It seems like it would be a pretty scary thing, and as diligent puppy parents, we want to do everything we can to make sure he stays our healthy and happy dog.

Speaking of dog, Miles looked like a dog, as opposed to a puppy, for the first time the other day when I looked at him. I mean, seriously - this is what he looked like when we adopted him (taken on the first day that we had him):

Also, when he curls up on the couch, he now takes up an entire cushion. I am beginning to think he's going to be bigger than originally thought. I do love when he still acts like a puppy, and though I posted it on my other blog, here's my favorite picture of Miles that I've ever taken:



He's such a good boy.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have reached adolescence.

There are two things that I have read about when it comes to adopting a puppy: one is the adolescence phase, and one is the honeymoon phase.

These can be marked by misbehavior, and just general brattiness. But it can cause even patient dog owners to have adopter's remorse, and sometimes even return the dog in question.

I have realized that not only has Miles reached adolescence, but the honeymoon phase is officially over.

This has been marked by sleeping less, pulling the leash more when we walk together, INCESSANT barking, an unhealthy fascination with catbox snacks, and doing things like eating my knitting.

I have been working on a sweater for the past two weeks, and I looked away for one second, and there was a portion of it in shreds. This is what it looks like now:



It took quite a bit of repair, but it looks better, and with only a few snags, which I can live with (because they're on the wrong side, as opposed to the right side, which you are now looking at).

I have chosen to take this as an educational experience and have been working harder to not leave things out in the open for him to get. I now keep all of my knitting in a laundry basket, and keep it on top of the washer.

The barking...oh my goodness, the barking. He barks at everything. I mean, everything. We have to keep the door closed because he barks out the door. We have to keep the curtains closed because he will bark at the window. He has taken to barking at the television today.

We have been trying to work with him, but it is hard to get a dog to stop barking. The reason for this is that barking is part of a dog's instinct - dogs will bark when their protective instinct kicks in, and there's not much a dog owner can do to fight that. Dog owners sometimes take the route of debarking surgery, but I am of the opinion that it's as cruel as declawing a cat - which is to say, way too cruel to even consider. So, we are going the training route, with the "shush" command, and it's not working so much at the moment, but I'm hopeful.

In spite of all of his crazy bratty antics, which I must admit are few and far between, he still makes me laugh pretty much constantly. I also have to put into perspective that he's only six months old, and that if we continue to be diligent in his training, then he'll continue to be a great dog.

Next up for us is clicker training. We aren't going to start doing it until we absolutely know what we're doing - if we're not careful and educated in our approach, then we could reverse the training we've already done with him, at which he is now a total champ. I actually am really excited to start it - I think it will take him to a whole new level as far as his training is concerned, and we will be able to get him to do adorable things, like smiling on command (which is something we've REALLY been wanting to do), rolling over, all that other good and fun stuff now that we've mastered things like wait, sit, down, come, etc.

So, the next chapter will be exciting. We've got lots more to cover, and we will continue to learn more about Miles every day. He's such a good boy.

Miles Graduated From Puppy Class, and the Effects of Neutering

Yay! Watch this video:




We finally made it! I have to say, puppy class had its moments of being totally frustrating, but all in all, totally worth it. It was just as much a class for me as it was for him - I learned that consistency is key, and that focus on me as his owner (particularly with leash walking) was the most important part. And she was right - if I could get him to focus on me, I could pretty much get him to do anything.

What's next? Either Obedience I (which might wait a little while so that we can do some work with him first), or clicker training. I'm thinking the latter might be more effective, but we'll see.

Also, his neuter surgery went very well, or so I thought. He endured the 10 days with a cone (which, we found out, only about 5% of dogs need...lucky Miles!) and all was well.

Then, one of his sutures came outside of his body. I'm not even really sure how that happens
(they're supposed to be dissolvable), but it did, and it got infected. In the research that I've done, it says that it can take weeks for stitches to dissolve. Another stitch has come out, so I am hoping that with the antibiotics and healing, we'll just be able to pull this new one right out eventually.

Anywho, that's about the only change. He's still the happy, energetic boy that we love, and maybe a little more mellow, but not much. :) Which is exactly how I like it. Does he feel like hell on wheels sometimes? Are you kidding? Of course. When I bring him to work with me, I'm absolutely exhausted by the time I get in my seat to actually, you know, do work. But he makes me laugh pretty much constantly, so it's a good tradeoff. :)

He's such a good boy. :)

Remembering.

My grandfather passed away this morning.

When I think about dogs, my mind has always gone immediately to my grandparents - they had dogs the entire time we were growing up...cocker spaniels, in fact. They had another dog when I was young named Sheba, but I don't remember what kind of dog she was.

When my grandmother passed away, my grandfather was so lonely. The summer after my first year of college, I lived with him, but I knew that would only be a temporary abatement to how terrible he was feeling. Shortly after the next school year started and I had moved out, my grandfather decided one day that he wanted a dog. So, that very day (hey, when his mind was made up, his mind was made up!), he looked in the paper and went and picked up Sam.

This is Sam (Picture courtesy of my cousin Nicki):


If there were a picture in the dictionary of the human-animal bond, it would be my grandfather and Sam. They talk about dogs finding their "person", how our animals actually pick us, and not the other way around, and these two were a perfect example. Sam NEVER left my grandfather's side for a minute until he went into the veteran's home. He came into my grandfather's life at a time where my grandfather was so in need of a companion, and Sam delivered, and then some.

There are so many things about my grandfather that I aspire to in my own daily life, and actively practicing unconditional love, every day, is the big one. My grandfather always showed so much unconditional love for his family, both human and animal alike. Sam was only too happy to give that right back to him, and so much more. I can only hope that we are growing that bond with Miles every day. If we are successful, then and only then will we be good pet parents.

Sam, you're such a good boy.

Could Miles be part cat?

So, it's no secret to the two of you who read this that I am an avid knitter. Miles has been phenomenal, actually, about leaving my knitting alone. He has had the occasional time where he has been bratty about it, and there was that one time he totally ruined a knitting project that I was working on, but it was a Christmas present for Christmas 2010 that I was working on right after we adopted him, which was in April. So, in all reality, I had it coming.

Regardless, there was a particularly hilarious instance today, and it looked like this:


There have been other hilarious instances too. We've pretty much been laughing constantly at him the past few days (who am I kidding? We're always laughing at him), like the time yesterday when he tried to dance with the vacuum cleaner, or this time:


Rob is on vacation this week and I was at work, VERY much in need of a laugh, and Miles was only happy to oblige.

In other news, Puppy class is going great. We practiced polite leash walking in the last class, which went very badly in the class, but he's been practically perfect at it ever since, being that we are actually teaching him how to walk on a leash in a way that is effective.

The main thing that I want to talk about, though, is baby teeth. Miles had not lost any by his second round of vaccinations, but that was normal - he was only about 3 months old at that point. Then he started losing his front teeth shortly after, and over the course of this weekend, he lost three of his canine teeth. I want him to lose his fourth, or not, because he looks absolutely hilarious with one canine tooth. He is also chewing less right now because he can't (as evidenced by the fact that he is currently gumming one of Rob's soccer shoes), but we know that is about to change REAL fast.

The one thing that we have found that helps him are wet washcloths, rolled up and frozen. He could literally chew on those for hours. He's pretty low-maintenance - I know some dog owners who get their dogs teething toys, and I definitely feel like it's just not necessary. The washcloths are perfect because they both ease discomfort while he's teething and give him a challenge.

Another positive byproduct of him currently being practically toothless is that he eats slower. But we'll deal with the fact that he scarfs his food in another post.

We will leave you with that, and go let Miles enjoy the last 12 or so hours of his manhood. He's such a good boy.

A TMI Post about Peeing and NARBs

If you don't want to read about TMI things regarding dogs, then this post is not for you. I am bringing both of these things up today because he has done them both today and they are fresh on my mind.

The first thing that I'm going to talk about is excited peeing. Miles doesn't do it in front of me, or in front of Rob, for that matter. He does it when he's in front of people that he doesn't see often, or for people to whom he is submissive. He doesn't pee much, and the doggy day care lady (for whom he is submissive), Christine, says that it will likely pass after he is neutered. T-Minus 9 days. We call them the sprinkles. According to this article, he will likely grow out of it - it's most prevalent in puppies, because they don't have full bladder control until they are a little older, sometimes even up to a year old. He does it most when he is excited to see people - for instance, my father-in-law this afternoon, all over his shoe and driveway. He's generally pretty good about not doing that, though, unless he gets really excited...AND, there's a new thing that he does when he's REALLY excited that just recently developed in the past couple of weeks - he SMILES! Much like this (except more subtle and less vicious looking - photo courtesy of http://gotsmile.net):

Anywho, he's pretty adorable when he does it, and we try to praise it so that we can get him to do it on command. He knows that it's not a bad thing so he's doing it more often, which ABSOLUTELY cracks me up.

The next thing that I'm going to talk about is a little crass, but it's the NARB (look at #1 and #3 to get what I mean). This happens at two specific times:

1. After breakfast. What can we say, he gets overly excited by food.
2. When he's really, really excited. Like, every time I pick him up from daycare.

It also sometimes just happens when he's just sitting there. He'll start whining every time, as if to say "WHAT'S HAPPENING TO MEEEEE?" He just waits it out, and then he's fine. This will likely also stop happening once he is neutered, so we're not too worried about it at this point.

In other words, our Miles is growing up! He still cracks us up every day (for instance, right now, while he is seemingly trying to build his own little fort out of a cardboard box)! He's currently about 40 pounds - our vet says that once he hits six months, his growth will likely slow significantly (and it has already started to - he's gaining about 2 pounds per week currently, slowing from 4-6 when we adopted him), and he will be at approximately 2/3 of his total weight at that time. My guess is that he's going to be 56 pounds, all told. It could be a little more, but I'm holding fast at the 56 that I put in the family pool. :)

Our favorite thing is to introduce Miles to a new sound, because when we do, he does this, from side to side:

He's such a good boy.