"I'm Just Say'in . . ."

We leave Journey's crate door open when not in use and he sometimes goes in for a nap. Here he is after waking up one day. He looked to us like he'd been telling stories to the neighbors across the fence.

Caught this picture of him this morning with his moose tucked under his arm. He really likes playing with stuffed toys, especially if they make noise.

Fine-tuning our walking etiquette

Journey has always been a pretty good walker on leash but we had some "fine-tuning" to do that we've been working on lately. When newly off the track, he found the outside world so fascinating that he would sometimes pull at the end of his lead, zig-zag from side to side and want to take off and chase those vexing squirrels. He is a different dog on walks now. He LOVES to go for a walk and for the first few minutes sometimes has to be reminded not to pull. The "distance penalty" technique works well with him and he soon remembers to stay at pace with me. We've taught him that we don't pee on mail boxes or flowers, but that bushes and fire hydrants are ok. I'm amazed at how quickly he learned this and was able to translate this skill from street to street in our neighborhood. He is also really catching on to staying to my left side and not crossing in front of me.

He's started doing a really cute thing in the mornings recently. When I am getting his breakfast ready, he makes a "joy-circuit" around the kitchen, into the dining room, through the foyer, through the family room and back to the kitchen. It's a happy, skippy little jaunt! He picks up a little speed when on the carpet in the family room and then slows it right down again when he reaches the wood floor in the kitchen. We imagine him saying to himself, "Woo-hoo, my grubs on the way"!!!

Over the weekend my brother's 12 year-old lab mix was a guest at our house. Journey was great with her and did a bit of showing off in the back yard zooming around at speed to show what he's made of . . .