I don’t even want to know how long it’s been since my last post.  So much for posting every Sunday.  Even worse, these photos are about a month old.  You’ll have to wait until next time to find out what Moses looks like nowadays.  So here’s a flashback to my final week in the PNW, hangin’ out at Mar and Liza’s beautiful farmstead.  Coincidentally, Marianne was dogsitting a loveably grumpy old heeler named Sketch while we were there.  Moses followed him around like a shadow.  Sketch acted annoyed but I think he secretly liked the attention.    

One fine day we took a canoe across the pond into Joseph’s new field to harvest some greens.  Here’s Liza and the pup wading through some muck. 

Back at the house, tired of chasing Sketch around, Mose caught some ZZZs on the appropriate couch.

And on the road, in his favorite spot in the truck, catching a few more.  He spent much of the weeklong trip here, on top of a big pile of stuff, with his head hanging over the passenger seat or resting on my shoulder.  He was an amazing and mellow traveling companion.

I pulled off the highway in Mitchell, South Dakota.  Partly I wanted to see the Corn Palace and partly I wanted to eat lunch and let Mosey run around a bit.  We didn’t find the Corn Palace, but we did find this surreal sort of corn shrine/renegade art installation in the middle of a field behind a hotel overlooking the I-90.  There was nothing explaining who put it there or why.  Just a wooden plank covered with golden corn kernels and five plastic pigeons ostensibly pecking away.  There was also a small brush pile with more pigeons perched on branches.  Mosey was as intrigued as I was, but perhaps for different reasons.

After what seemed like an eternity, we made it out of South Dakota, crossed some other states and eventually reached Rhode Island.  Check back soon for an update on East Coast Puppy Times…

It’s hard to know what to feed Moses.  Bonita’s Four Legged Friends, the best pet store in town, has dozens of brands and flavors.  Wet, dry, puppy-specific, non-puppy-specific…  Then there are the people who tell me he should eat only raw meat.  Or cooked meat.  I once met a lady who pan fried pork chops for her Russian Wolfhound every night — with boiled sweet potatoes on the side.  I decided to mostly go with dry store-bought food, because it is extra-specially formulated for doggy nutrition needs.  He eats “Taste of the Wild,” which has  a pretty good rep.  He’s had the “prairie” mix w/ bison and venison, and also the “wetlands” kind w/ duck and chicken.  I also supplement his meals with plenty of delicious leftovers: beef stew, roast chicken, livers, smoked salmon skin, peas, winter squash, potatoes, rutabagas, beets, carrots etc.  If I’m out on the town having a cookie with my coffee, he might get a taste (as long as there’s no chocolate).  He seems healthy, and he’s definitely growing rapidly.  When he’s all grown up, maybe we’ll  transition away from store-bought doggie food.  But look at that healthy coat.  Margie says it’s just like a sheep’s.

Here’s a few couch potato portraits: 

And, unrelatedly, some people pics.  Tinker and Jennifer having a chuckle:

And a clean-shaven Jay, who didn’t know what to do with his day off from work:

Til next time…

Bizarro weather around here this week, ranging from snow to more windstorming to heavy rain to a little sunshine, which we are getting right now as the evening arrives.  Whether or not I want to brave the elements, Moses hates being cooped up inside.  Here he is enjoying the snow the other morning:

And REALLY enjoying some wrestling action with Piper, a little terrier who lives in the neighborhood:

Piper’s signature move is rapid-fire humping:

After so much intense playtime, he is ready for some serious relaxation and napping:

Dust-bathing also leads to napping:

And so it goes.

It was our first car voyage outside of Jefferson County.  We went to Olympia and Rochester to hang with the buds and mostly it was amazing.  Moses got to chase Booty the Cat all around the house, even squeezing through his cat door at one point.  He got schooled by Hank, Lauren and Dean’s 1 year old muscle man of a labrador.  He peed on the bed and chewed on Marianne’s fancy Persian rug.  Good times had by all.  

Here he is, hangin’ in Centralia w/ Mar and Liza:

What a nice day that was!  Mosey got tuckered out by our long walk on the Willapa Hills Trail (which supposedly goes all the way from Chehalis to the coast!)  Here he is helping Marianne with her lovely red twig dogwood bouqet:

And taking a snuggle break with Liza…

And one with me…

On the way home we stopped at Black Sheep Creamery to look at some other small fuzzy animals:

CUUUUUUUUUUTE!

Didn’t get too many good pics of Mosey this week, but here’s a few for tradition’s sake.  Tomorrow we go on a road trip and I’ll be sure to have the camera handy.

Wet dog!  This guy plays rain or shine.  Notice the freshly dug root vegetables in the background.  Honest to god, he has already learned how to dig up a carrot.

Profile shot!

Going head-to-head with a plastic flamingo lawn ornament.

The battle rages on…

and on…

Moses looking moody on a stormy day.

Checking out a fir toppled by last night’s hellacious winds.  Gusts up to 50 MPH!

Feeling very satisfied I’m sure.  This was the first time he’d ever been able to jump up onto this chair.  A couple days later he made it onto the couch.  Part of me thinks I’m supposed to train him to stay off the furniture but most of me thinks it cute and wants to cuddle with him on the couch. 

Since my puppy training books tell me Moses is still in his crucial “socialization period,” I’m trying to expose him to lots of different dogs, people and places.  Here, you can see he’s enjoying the company of a large wolfy kind of pooch at the beach:

 I’m happy to say he knows when to use the standard “submissive” behaviors to appease the big scary dogs.  And the big guys aren’t afraid to share their deep, serious growls if he pesters them too much (which he usually does).

That same day he also got to party with Margie and Robin and two of their buddies from Seattle.  We went for a really long walk and he got so tired that we had to carry him most of the way home.  That’s Margie taking her turn.

Friday was very exciting for Moses, as it was his first day of work on the farm.  Marko, Jay and I opened up the “clamps,” big piles of cabbage buried underneath soil and straw.  Obviously Moses enjoyed helping out.  We tried to sic him on some little rodents that scurried out of the mounds but he was busy chewing on cabbage leaves.

Looking stylish in his new cap.

I’m not sure who is cuter, Moses or this little girl.  When he first saw her from about 30 yards away, he started barking like crazy.  He must’ve thought she was pretty threatening.  I brought him over to meet her and he was friendly— maybe a little too friendly.  In hindsight, I probably should have been keeping him from pouncing on the youngun instead of taking this photo.

He was born on a farm and I’m pretty sure he’s a farm dog for life.

Dried sunflower heads drive him WILD

So does this pile of fishing net under the chicken coop

Yesterday he had a very exciting playdate with Nose, Atlanta, Megs, and Wheezy the Rottweiler. Wheezy is frisky and about 10 times bigger than him, but Moses just chased him around all day.  My biggest challenge with him so far is keeping him from running off in pursuit of every single person or dog he sees.  With each new day he gets the concept of “wait” just a tiny bit better.

Checking out the Fort Worden bunkers

Alligator Mode

Just showing off his fine profile 

First trip to the beach — seaweed FUN, waves SCARY

Cuddlin with Kellie in the yard

First leash lesson AKA the tango

Aren’t they handsome?

Being a crazy man