New Moose Bed!

Thanks Granny B! Moose has a new Bed... He sat curiously with me as I figured out how to squeeze 4" foam inside of a very small opening. We figured it out and I think that it is nicer than our bed!! Brad might be fighting him for it :-)

Here he is trying to cheat and see what it was all about before it was completely ready for him. Of course I let him. Why not?

And here is with his new FAVORITE toy... a stick. :) I'm sure that if we dig deep enough Brad and I will find somewhere that warns us that him eating a stick will some how end up in his death, but we don't think so. He chews on it breaks of really small, soft, slobber soaken pieces that end up all over our floor. I'm sure that some of it is getting inside of his little tummy, but hopefully not enough to do any drastic damage.

We've been working on Moose's manner and his behavior as you all know. He done well over all in my opinion. I don't remember ever having a dog that would sit on command or lay down when you said down. So we started to move on to bigger things like 'speak'. Here is a quick video of him obeying his command. Yay Moose!

As a kid I remember playing with our friends in the back of Guy Wright's State Farm agency and 'randomly' finding State Farm Good Neighbears to play with. When Brad and I met with our agent I mention this to her and she asked if we wanted one. Brad quickly responded, yes! It would be a great toy for Moose! Of course he loved the little bear a little too much. And after him tearing off his ear I had to take him away. Maybe on another rainy day, with supervision, we'll bring it back out for him to play with.

We keep his food and treats in our pantry. I know that might seem a little odd to some of you with more than ample room at your house, but we are starting to get a little cramped in certain areas, the kitchen is one of those. Moose's new thing is to sit at the opened door and just stare at his bag of treats. He never barks or anything, but he will just stare begging them to fall off the shelf and into his mouth.

And I'll leave you with this last image. Tomorrow is his 5 month birthday! While we probably will not do anything special, we will love on him like always. It is a Friday... maybe we should do a special treat or something for the poor guy. However, we weighed him this morning and he is at a whopping 58 lbs. :-) Seems like he is growing rather nicely. He seems so big, but he couldn't be sweeter.

Moose Goes Camping

Yep... he sure did! Well, we all did. We packed our bags and headed for the foot hills of the Appalachian Mountains to get out of the city for a little bit and recharge. It was a lot of fun and very relaxing once we finally got on our way.

You can see here that Moose has a very rough life with Brad and me... here he is sleeping on the way up there. Brad made him a little pallet to

rest on during the drive and Moose took full advantage of it. He slept most of the 1 1/2 hr trip up there.

You'll see there were the occasional looks out the back window to see where we were at. But other than that, he pretty much laid down and waited for us to stop so he could get out and play.

Moose was a great helper the entire time, he helped Brad set up camp, cook dinner an d find sticks for the campfire. He LOVES his sticks! He wasn't always willing to give them up for such a 'worthless' cause such as making a fire.

We arrived fairly late in the evening for camping- close to 7 pm- so our evening fun of dinner and s'mores went late into the night. Moose joined us in the tent for some rest, starting off at the foot of the

bed but ending up at the top right next to us. He was so sweet. He snuggled right between us.

Eater Sunday we had a service by a fire with some hot tea and breakfast. We went on a hike next to Jack's River and even got Moose's paws wet. What started off as a very chilly morning quickly warmed up to a hot afternoon. Moose chose to take a break from chewing on the never ending pile of sticks to catch a few moments in the sun.

And the way back wasn't much different for Moose than the way up there. He rested on a pile of pillows and blankets while we drove through the VERY rough roads back home. We were getting jostled around a lot, but Moose didn't seem to mind. We think that he'll end up being an ideal trail dog for us. We had a great time out there and are looking forward to the next outdoor experience with Moose. Maybe next time he'll try to swim :-)

Visit with Granny

This past weekend Moose went for his first official road trip to see Granny Herring in Montgomery, AL. What should have been a short, 3 hour trip one way, turned into a 6 hour trip! There was traffic and accidents everywhere and we couldn't get around them.

So we took out time and made a few extra stops along the way. Moose didn't really want to sleep this time in the Jeep which was really odd, but he seemed to do well. And maybe, just maybe he might have enjoyed himself a little. We stopped a few rest stops and I learned that there is a certain area where dogs are welcomed and a certain area where they are not. I think that is segregation- but who am I?

He is doing really well at getting in and out of the Jeep now and continues to get excited that we might be going somewhere new to explore.

Once we arrived at Granny's apartment Moose tried to find some energy to explore, but soon found himself taking a quick nap. He did wake up to enjoy some time with Granny. Here are a few pictures of out time with Granny.

Here she is giving him a treat. He will do anything for food. He loves a treat! Granny really wanted him to speak for his treat. I'm not sure if it is unfortunately, or fortunately, but he doesn't know that command yet. He is not a 'barker' right now. We'll see when he gets older. He will bark when we go down the stairs or if he needs to go outside and we are upstairs, but that is about it. He is quite like they all said he would be. Unless he is upstairs running around and you are downstairs. :)

Dooms Day

Poor little Moose had the day that men around the world dread.... he was snipped. I dropped him off this morning thinking that he was a dead dog walking. I signed a form that basically said, if we kill your dog- it is because you did something stupid. Yikes!! He didn't want to go back with them and they asked me to help them. I graciously agreed to walk him to the back, all the while watching his big eyes stare up at me, questioning me as to what was going on, where was he, and why wasn't he leaving with me. Oh, it broke my heart. (Never thought I would say that).

But all's well that ends well. Moose survived the day and seems to be doing well. We found out that he has put on 7.5 lbs in the last 2 weeks- tipping the scales at 52.5lbs! He has almost doubled his weight since we got him about 6 weeks ago. WOW!!

We had a moment on the way home from the vet where I thought it was touch and go... it looked like he as hallucinating. I thought that he was having a horrible reaction to a medicine they had given him. So, I called the vet. :( Yep, I was that concerned. They said that it was a normal reaction to the anesthesia and that he was just a little loopy. Who would have known- apparently- not me!

The Vet didn't send Moose home with a E- Collar, or what I've always called a 'Cone' to protect his stitches. We thought for a minute that he would be ok without it, but then paranoia set in after he became interested in the stitches 3 times within the first hour that he was home. So, I quickly ran out to Petsmart to grab a 'Cone' to protect the little guy from himself.

While I was there I thought that he deserved a toy for all of his pain and misery that he went through today so I picked up a dental Kong (the red toy in the pic). He'll never know that it is good for him and GREAT for our socks!

He is doing well overall. If you can believe it- he is a little less active than normal. I know that some of you thought that it could never happen, but it did. :) I'm glad that day is over and I'll be happier still when the cone will come off of his clumsy body.