Where do the months go???

I'm nearly 8 months old and my parents truly can't imagine life without me now.

Here's what I've been up to...

Mom and I went for a lot of walks at the beginning of the month when it was still nice out

I helped Mom and Dad vote for President Obama

Dad loves me A LOT!

I love looking out the windows on the porch and watching the world go by

I may have chewed a hole in Mom's old slippers so she had to get these new ones

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mom bought me this stylish LLBean coat on Black Friday

They're making me wear this holiday scarf - I don't love it but I'm getting used to it

Puppy School Graduate

I graduated from Basic One (Mom calls it first grade) last night and Mom and Dad are very proud of me.  My class was great - I learned to "stay", to "come" on command, to "leave it" (sort of...), and "down".  I'm definitely the smartest one in the class and I'll do anything you want me to do in exchange for a cookie.

I'm a proud puppy school graduate!

Look at my nice diploma!  Dad had them get us a new one with the correct spelling of our last name...

A Long Overdue Update

Beware, this could be a long post!  I've been busy!

I'm now 6 months old (plus one week) and I'm growing and learning new things all the time.  Here are some highlights of the last few months:

Mom borrowed a fancy camera from school and she insists on taking my picture all the time.  I hate the click of the camera and I bark and growl every time I see her put it up to her face.  She has to be pretty quick to get a decent picture!

I help Mom play Words With Friends all the time

Snuggling on the bed is the best!

Dad and I have lots of serious conversations, usually involving the words "no bites".

Mom and Dad took me to Wanakee on beautiful Sunday afternoon and let me run free.  I was in dog heaven!!

And they took me to York Beach with Grammie where I got to run too!

What a wonderful world...

... I love seeing what's out there!

What I learned at my first puppy kindergarten class...

... in order of occurrence

1.  Tiny, 8 week old yellow lab puppies named Cooper are REALLY TINY and should probably be treated a bit more gently than originally thought.  I'll be glad when he's a little bit bigger and can actually play with me.

2.  My parents are super psyched that I don't pee from excitement every time I greet someone like that cute dog named Doc does.  I may not be perfect, but at least I don't do that!  And my parents really like his name, since he is named after Doc Rivers of the Celtics.

3.  Karen (my teacher) is really nice.  I like it when she uses me as an example for the rest of the class - it means I get extra cookies!

4.  I love playing with the other dogs, especially the other two black labs in the class who are close to my age.  I like to think I'm the dominant one, but it doesn't always work out that way.

5.  I still don't like the water and have no interest in going in the pool, even if my new friends Gracie and Porter are in there.  It's just not my thing...

6.  I kick butt at sitting on command, but still have no interest what-so-ever in learning how to lay down on command, no matter how many cookies and tricks Karen tries to use.

I can't wait to go back to class next week and see what else I'll learn!

Kayaking

My parents insisted on taking me kayaking this week. While I didn't love it, I also didn't hate it and I was usually pretty good about sitting still. I liked to watch the world go by and it was nice to be out in the sunshine.

They made me wear a life jacket. I think I look ridiculous, but Mom thought I was adorable. It wasn't easy to move around in it, but maybe that is the point...

Here's what I looked like in Mom's kayak with her.  I fit pretty well and had plenty of space this year, but I'm not sure its going to work like this again for next year.  I hear talk of a double kayak for me and Dad...

Yes, I know I am pretty cute in this picture.  I can't help it...

This was my view - not too shabby!  A beautiful lake, beautiful sky, beautiful island.  Life is good!

Georges Pond

My parents took me on my very first vacation and it was wonderful. We went to Georges Pond and stayed on the lake. While I still don't love the water, I managed to have a good time anyway.

This is basically what my week looked like...

Dad and I took a lot of naps together and it was great.