Birthday Boy

Saturday, Jan 24th was Sailor's 4 month birthday, which in dog year's means he is about 5 years-old. He weighed in at 49.9 lbs! Since he had puppy pre-school, after class he got to pick out a new toy. Like most fur kids, he is spoiled, so he actually got 2 toys (pictured here) - The Chew Rope and the Ball That Makes Weird Noises. We draw the line at a cake and candles (for now). Later that day, he went to our neighbor's house (Tom, Carmen, Randall and Roman) for dinner and some play time with their dog, Jada. He learned his first lesson about taking treats from others after he took her bone and toys - Growl!

Jail Break

At 5:00 am on Saturday morning, I woke up to the sound of something clomping around the house. I came to the realization it was Sailor and his big feet making those sounds and that he had managed to escape his crate. (We had let him out at 3:00 am and didn't latch the door all the way by mistake). For him, this was fun and exciting like breaking out of jail. By the time I got out of bed, he was sitting by the bedroom door with the living room TV remote in his mouth. The laser light was on and pointing directly to him and his misdeeds. Along with the remote, he had brought some other gifts into the bedroom and laid them in a pile, such as magazines (some with the covers now ripped off), chewed up kleenexes, a bathroom towel, and sweetly, some of his toys from his portable kennel in the living room. We put him back into his crate (which he went into willingly) and he promptly fell asleep

I want that cat!

He's still in hot pursuit and the cat's not giving in. She still stands her ground, but I see progress. Is this a doggy-kitty kiss I see? The pink item in the background is my kitchen towel that he grabbed and put on the bed as maybe he thought we dry dishes while sleeping.

Bring it!

We're teaching Sailor to fetch, so we tell him to "bring it" which he has down pretty well. The part he isn't so good at is "drop it". He hangs on to it like a crocodile with prey. He loves this Squirrel - it's his favorite toy.

He's also becoming quite the house dog. For a breed that loves the cold and can swim in Arctic waters, he sure is a wuss when left outside for longer than 30 seconds. We have to get him to go outside and play. When he comes in, he's figured out now how to climb on the ottoman and "relax".

Another Weiner in the House

For the last 16 years, Todd has been the only guy in the house except for when we first got married and he had his male cat, Einstein. Throughout the years, all of our other pets have been girls. Having another "boy" is certainly different although he has been snipped. All that chasing, peeing, grabbing, chewing, barking, marking, eating, and running - It's a guy thing, right?

Portrait of "Sailor from the Lake"

Isn't this the most perfect photo? It looks like he sat for a portrait like an aristocratic dog.  With his pedigree, we should call him something fancy like "Sailor Del Lago". 

In this photo, he is resting his head on the ottoman as he is as all as it and the coffee tables now.  Everything needs to be moved out of his reach.  

A Good Day at School

"Aunt" Lisa came to visit Sailor at pre-school last weekend. He was very excited to see her and gave her a big lick.

He also made a new friend which was very sweet and got some "Personal Training" from the instructor as well on how to walk on a leash. He loved it all and is learning everything pretty quickly.

Treats are like Videos

So we've fallen into the "parent trap". Instead of sitting Sailor down to watch a video (which of course he can't), we put a pig ear or bone in front of him to keep him busy to give ourselves a break. Funny how fur kids are just like human kids but at least he doesn't watch "Barney" or "Madagascar" a hundred million times at day.