Random Pictures

Here is our first blog of just random pictures that I thought everyone might like to see. Enjoy!

This is what we spend a lot of time doing... taking things out of his mouth when he is outside.

His new place to relax. It was barely cold enough for a fire, but we built one any way.

Here is a glimpse of great things to come... check out the drool wrapped around his snout!

Me playing with Moose outside. He really likes it outisde.

Moose playing outside...again.

I thought that this relaxing position was hysterical! How uncomfortable does this look to you?

Moose had a really long day... he was tuckered out.

Our Sweet Moose- just chillin' outside.

Our lap dog. Check out that BIG yawn!

And his new way to lay in the back of the Jeep. I think he must be double jointed... or do all dogs do this?

Obedience Training Paying Off!

Practice Makes Perfect!
It may not look like it in this picture, but this is a very difficult task for a dog to do. Try getting your dog to stay still like this for a picture. hehe.

We didn't make it to training class this weekend because it was raining, but check out his progress :-) We'll be back this Saturday and we should have a story or two to share.

Finally! A video that you can actually see something in!!

Here is Moose demonstrating his ability to sit when asked. He is actually doing well with this and will even sit in a busy area. He may not stay seated, but he still understands the basic command. One step at a time.

Next we'll show you down! He just starting to understand that command. He will try anything for a treat! He loves the peanut butter ones.

Did I mention that he has put on 5 lbs in the last 10 days?

Play Time with Moose

Play Time with Moose

For all of you who think that our dog does nothing more than sleep, we are posting a few pictures and short videos that may suggest otherwise :-)

On rare occasion you might see Moose running through the house or outside. He looks adorable when he prancing around but it never last long. Soon after you will find him rolled over on his back for a belly rub. Last night Moose and I were outside on a potty break when Brad came home. When Brad walked to the door Moose looked up and came running towards Brad to greet him. It was really cute. Other than that and a quick run to the door to make it outside in time, he is mostly content to stay in a slow, meandering pace.

Here is Moose 4-wheeling across the lap of Brad. It looks like he got tired half way through and called it quits. Must have been working hard. Mind you, he did have to move to get in this position...

Side Note: Looks like I take after my Great Grandma Zeltner in picture taking skills... I cut off the top of Brad's head! But I DID manage to get all of Moose in the shot ;-)

Here he is playing with the tire ball toy. Notice the small flip he does at the end. Who knows, maybe there will be an Olympic event for this soon! It made me laugh. He really can be playful at times. But he honestly doesn't mind taking a nap.

Here's Moose playing his new chew toy. This boy loves to chew right now. But we're pleasantly surprised that he doesn't really chew on furniture. Just his toys and us :-) Once we tell him, "No bite," he typically stops and besides us, he rarely return to the item he was biting.

And here he is eating some of his delicious food. He really does seem to like it overall. When I add in one of his vitamin supplements, it's like a gravy, he always licks the bowl clean. He loves his Nupro- and luckily it was FREE!! They provided us with samples to get him started to just see if he liked it. It actually smells like it taste good too! No, I haven't tried it. He likes to join us when we eat dinner in front of the tv. He doesn't eat off of our plates or anything, but he is very curious as to what is there and why we are not sharing.

This is us playing fetch. We've really got to get a better video camera for these dark occasions. Wait, we HAVE one already. humm... so, I guess we really do not have a good excuse.

So as you can see... we do have some moments around the house where Moose moves faster than a snail's pace.

Moose Meets Aunt Perian!

Moose with Aunt Perian!

Yesterday evening Moose was able to meet his Aunt Perian! We met up at the mall and that was quite that adventure in and of itself. We weren't really sure if dogs were allowed inside, but since there wasn't a sign posted so we decided to press our luck.

After a few small incidents of pooing on the floor, sliding off of the bench several times, a few close encounters with strollers, and finishing off with a quick tinkle on the floor- we were politely asked to leave by a security guard. :) It was perfect timing as we were heading out any ways.

Moose was really great with all of the people that he met and seemed to quickly take up with Aunt Perian. We had a great time visiting and catching up while we were permitted in the mall.
Besides the bathroom accidents I was really proud at how well he did. You can't help but love this little guy!

The Beast Rolls!

It seems that Moose has been taking up most of our blog space, but let's not forget the beast!

It actually snowed a little big (and rained).  We took the Beast out and gave it a little test.  The lockers and 4wd worked great on the hills.

Becky and I took some time a couple of weekends ago and added a new bumper and rock sliders to the Beast.  You can sort of see them here.

Next up on the modification list is a small body lift, a "tummy tuck", and a suspension lift.  Soon, we will be getting some 33" tires on her and she'll be ready to go.

Moose likes to ride in the Jeep.  

We are looking forward to this summer when the top is off, Moose is bigger and we are able to go running around the mountains!  Soon we'll be taking advantage of the spring weather and going four wheeling on the rocks!

Life is good.

Our Weekend

Over the past couple of days Brad has been gone a little more than usual working at a show. This sudden change in our schedule has thrown Moose for a loop. He is a recap of the events of our 4 day weekend (sort of).

Thursday, Brad's first night working late, Moose was very needy. He wanted all of my attention and was not happy when I was doing any other simple task such as talking on the phone or reading a book. He wanted all of me.

Friday night he seemed mopy and little withdrawn. He not as eager to play ball with me, but did seem to want to be with me for the most part. When Brad got home that night Moose heard the garage door open and he perked up. Literally, he was laying on the floor near me- his moves to a seated position (this is a TON of action for Moose- seriously), and he started to act excited. It was so cute. After a little waiting for Brad to walk in the door Moose let out a sigh of relief- life was back to normal for Mr. Moose if only for a brief moment. :-)

Saturday was a BIG day for Moose. Not only did he have to deal with Brad being gone, but we had our first puppy training class. He did great there! He is doing really well with 'Come' and 'Sit'. He is really motivated by treats, so as a reward for good training he always gets a treat.
The training was about one hour long. I spent about 45 min talking with the trainer about what to do and what not to do with Moose. How to look for ear aches, signs of dehydration & check for good blood flow. I also learned that it is good to frequently touch his paws & my favorite, that we need to hug Moose :-). After that we spent about five min talking about training and how it works- that repetition is key as well as keeping the sessions short and fun for Moose. And then the remaining 10 min Alex, the trainer and I went over commands 'Come' and 'Sit'. While Moose did very well and seemed to enjoy training, when I left I had to ask myself, was that puppy training or owner training?

We then went home for a quick puppy nap before we took a trip to meet Brad and some of his friends down at the show. He did great for us while we were there. He and Brad even went for a quick run in an open field together. Moose is SO cute to watch running. But he is still very clumsy as he proved when I called him over to me. He was still very excited about his run with Dad that he continued to run towards me. The problem with that was that I was on a platform about one foot off of the ground. He tried to run and jump up on the platform to see me... but it was more like a run and crash. I felt horrible! But it was kind of cute to see him try something new.

After arriving home around 6:30 Moose tried his best to stay awake for a little while, but finally collapsed around 7:15. He slept until Brad got home around 10:00 and didn't complain when we put him to bed that night.

Sunday he was so tuckered out from the full day of activity on Saturday that he spent the ENTIRE day recovering. At first I thought that he might be sick because he would not do anything but sleep. But then I figured that he was just worn out and needed his puppy sleep. He even found a new place outside to nap in the sun so he could enjoy the beautiful day. Such a great way to multi-task. What a smart dog!

Same Personality?

I'm not sure if Moose was born with these personality traits, if previous life situations shaped him this way or if he is simply taking on the personality of his new family. Either way, we are a noticing that there are several similarities between us and Moose. It is quite humorous for us to observe. Most of the time we first think- why in the world would he do such a thing? And then after a moment of pondering, we realize that we, in that situation, would have done the very same thing.

General observations:

• He doesn't like to change his schedule. Once it is set, he is happy to keep it that way. That is identical to me- Becky.
• He is very resistant to change, if he is inside the house- let's stay inside the house. If we are outside- why go inside? Just getting him to cross over the threshold to the new place is sometimes a challenge, but once he is there, he loves it! This is Brad.
• He groans and snores. It is so cute right now. We just chuckle when he does it. It is still soft enough that we can still watch tv or speak over it without interruption, but who knows how that will be when he puts on another 100+ lbs. I'll let you try to decide which one of us does this on a more regular basis. hehe
• He gets cranky at the end of a long day when he hasn't had enough rest or has been out of his routine. That is especially true with me, but also some with Brad. I think that Brad is better at faking his good mood than Moose or I are.
• He loves to be with us. For the most part he is content to be in the same room with us. He likes to just be a part of the family. Brad and I both are like this. We enjoy just being together and doing life with each other.
• He is easily distracted. Again, you can decided on which one of us this applies to. :-)

On a side note- how is it possible that I still shed more than a dog?? I'm not complaining. This helps me keep the house clean and not feeling like we are living in a dog's house. But really, me more than a dog? ho hum. Can't have everything I guess.
Should we expect him to continue to become more like us? Hopefully not with the shedding.

Week of Firsts

Our First Family Photo

It’s been a full week of FIRSTS for me as an adult. I never knew what my parents really went through every time I begged them to get us a new puppy. I think that we had about 4 growing up, but I’m sure someone else in the family will disagree with me- I have a terrible memory about those things. Any ways- house training, finding the right dog food, jeep riding, medicine giving, general training, rearranging our house and our schedule! I think that is just the beginning of the things that Brad and I have been going through since we brought Moose home to us. But we love it, and love him. He is really a great dog and we are having lots of fun with him.

So let me begin sharing some of our firsts with you.

We had our first outing together to Petsmart! Moose was a little timid at times with very hyper, barking dogs- but found plenty of nice people and puppies to make friends with. Here is Moose with Brad walking heading in the store. He did great! We were very proud.

We try to daily take a walk around our small subdivision to help with leash and obedience training. We know that he will be growing quickly and strong training is key. He is improving a lot each time we head out doors. Of course, he still loves to sniff out every rock or leaf in the area. He is still a puppy- even though he is already bigger than any dog that I've ever had. :-)

Saturday we took at trip to a local Tractor Supply Store, TC Country to find good quality food for the new member of our family. He was amazing! He walked around the store like a champ.
Everyone wanted to stop and pet him and it seemed that the overwhelming statement made about him was, 'He is going to so big. Look at those paws!' Here is a picture to help show the size. We just smile, laugh and agree that yes, he will continue to grow to be a large, healthy puppy.





After several less than desirable trip in the Jeep we were concerned that our little guy just might get car sick. However, he did great on Saturday and Sunday. I think that he is finally settling in to his new family.



Let it Snow, let is snow, let it snow!!! We got snow in Georgia on Sunday! What a treat. We were able to enjoy it for a little bit while it lasted. He enjoyed playing around and especially eating the snow. But doesn't everyone love to eat snow? At least once when you were a kid?





Yesterday we had our first Vet visit. I was pleased with the vet and the team that we met with. Dr. Land has previously owned Mastiffs as well as another assistant there so they are familiar with the breed and the special needs they might have. They allowed me to ask tons of questions as a new mastiff owner and I felt good about the team there when I left. In fact, we had to go back in because we forgot something and Moose didn't hesitate- he walked right back in with me without question. That made me feel good about the choice of vet.

So that's all for now. We love having the new addition in our family and hope that you enjoy hearing about our experiences.