First Big Outing

The big outing of the weekend was a walk around Fort Funston with the whole crowd and Sunapee. It was a beautiful day and the big waves that allowed the Mavericks surf competition to take place were still roaring in. It was nice to get some sun, fresh air and some exercise (especially for Sunapee) and to get out of the house.

Christmas Day

Matt and I had a nice, quiet Christmas Day at home this year. I was certainly not about to fly anywhere at 35 weeks pregnant, so we enjoyed the day together with our little tree and the animals. It was a beautiful sunny day, so we took Sunapee out to Fort Funston for his favorite activity.

The sunny day also highlighted the streaks on the living room windows, so Matt went to work, with an audience.

Relaxing the Rules

Matt captured this charming dog/cat moment the other day. Franklin was a little startled when Sunapee first joined him on his chair, but quickly settled back in to continue his nap.

Matt's Best Friend

Sunapee enjoyed watching Amazing Race with Matt last night.

Cliffside Hang Gliding

No, I did not go hang gliding, fun as that would be. But I did see hordes of them one blustery Saturday afternoon when at a dog park with Sunapee. I was heading back from Target and needed to tire out the puppy before he drove me truly nuts over the weekend while Matt was in Tahoe. It was a chilly and very windy day, especially on the coast. I stopped at Fort Funston, a part of the Golden Gate National Parks, which many describe as doggy heaven for its off leash policy, trails, beach access, you name it.

On my approach I noticed the hang gliders and I was wondering where they were coming from. Turns out, the park is heaven for them too, with the high cliff parking lot and windy nature of the coast.

Seeing this was just an added bonus to my errands!

The Furniture Challenge

Matt and I have made the decision to keep Sunapee off of the furniture. He has his bed and his crate and all of the floor for lounging. Naturally, Sunapee would prefer to curl up on the bed, a couch or the ottoman. Today, when Matt was home, Sunapee tested the rule and got comfortable on the bed. Matt told him to get "OFF!" which he did, only to be discovered on the living room couch moments later. Clearly, this is a work in progress.

Sunapee Underfoot

Sunapee is a people dog. He likes to be wherever the people gather. This can be a challenge when there are multiple people in multiple places. His favorite spot to lounge is in the kitchen, right in front of whatever appliance our counterspace is being used. We had to use all the distraction methods in our arsenal to keep him out of the way when tiling, painting, staining, what have you. The soundtrack for all the work was filled with "Sunapee, come here"/"Sunapee, go away!" He managed to come away with only a few specks of green or white paint.

Sunapee's big day at the vet

Sunapee has survived the big surgery. He lost some, he gained some (a microchip). Most of all, he's confused and tired! The biggest two challenges he's facing with the lampshade are 1) running into things (like the walls, doorways, stairs, coffee table) and 2) limited accessibility of his toys.

The vet visit did confirm that he is, indeed, 60 pounds! And still all-puppy.

Camping

We went camping this weekend with friends Kevin, Heather and Greg as well as Sunapee and Bridger. This brought us back up North towards Mendocino, only not on the coast so with much nicer weather. We stayed in Hendy Woods (with about 100 other groups) which was pretty nice, especially for a last minute plan.

First order of business (well, second after lunch and a beer), was to bring the dogs to the river for a swim. Then we enjoyed the day setting up camp, cooking some steak, chicken, corn on the cob, playing cards and enjoying each other's company around the fire.

Sunapee is very confident with the river and had more success than he normally does in the ocean.







The hike to the river and the swimming definitely tired out Sunapee.


Kevin cooked and ate with what Heather calls his Crocodile Dundee knife.

Swimming and Diving

We took Sunapee on his first camping trip this weekend. The campsite search hinged on having a place where he could practice his swimming skills without the threat of waves. He is not the most graceful or efficient swimmer, but he swims enthusiastically. Most of the time, he swims almost frantically, making sure his head is out of the water - paws flailing above the surface. His other peculiar stamp on the swim is when he reaches the stick, he dives for it, looking like a very small polar bear.

In some of these videos you can hear us all laughing at his crazy stroke. In others, you can hear his snarfing for air.

Mendocino Weekend

Matt and I spent a long weekend in Mendocino to celebrate our first anniversary. We had a nice drive up, with a pit stop in Mill Valley so Matt could tutor and I played with Sunapee at the dog park. Also along the way, we stopped at the Marin Mazda/Subaru dealership to buy/install a dog gate in the wagon, allowing us to bring Sunapee's travel crate into the hotel and not have to traipse it in & out. Using our guidebook to having a dog in California, we had a burger lunch at an oceanside (and parking lot-side) grill with the Pee at our feet in Bodega Bay.

We stayed at one of the MacCallum House buildings and enjoyed a great room with a private patio and hot tub. Friday in Mendocino was clear and beautiful so we enjoyed a drink on the deck before dinner at the MacCallum House restaurant.

Saturday, Matt unfortunately woke up feeling ill, so he spent the day in bed napping, watching the Yankees and consuming saltines and ginger ale. I spent the day on our private deck reading and hanging out with the Pee.

View from MacCallum House deck Friday

Walking around town Saturday with Sunapee

Puppy Update

Sunapee is about 4 1/2 months old and growing faster than a weed. The change from when we first brought him home at 9 weeks is amazing. Life at home with puppy has improved and become significantly easier.

• Sunapee successfully completed 2 concurrent Puppy Kindergarten classes (we didn't want to risk under-training him) and is halfway through Puppy II (just one class now). I'm proud to say he is one of the star pupils and learns very quickly. Commands he knows now include:
• Sit (tho he doesn't quite get the command if he's already lying down)
  
• Down
• Stay (ok, this one is still a work in progress, but it's not bad)
• Wait (also new, but he's good at it)
• Let's Go! (walk with me)
• Heel! (walk RIGHT next to me)
• Gentle (take this treat but leave my fingers intact, please)
  
• Come! (They say this is one of the most important and he gets it every time. The key? We use meat based baby food, aka puppy crack, as the reward.)
• Sunapee has graduated from puppy day care to beach trips when we're at work. The fine people who run this program say Sunapee is the only dog in the group they trust off leash because of the aforementioned Come! training.
• Sunapee has had all his shots and can now actually enjoy the parks, so now he gets to play fetch on the grass at Golden Gate Park until the cows come home.
• He has grown from ~18 lbs when we brought him home to over 45 lbs. His ears and paws have grown faster than the rest of him, but really, it makes him extra cute.
• He happily hops in the car to go anywhere and no longer tries to hop out of the crate top if it's open (see pic below). This is new and it cracks me up to look back and see his little head sticking out.
• Cats are still not fond of him but will occasionally get close enough that they sniff each other's noses.
• Sunapee is definitely social. He met his first baby on Sunday (pics to come) and didn't mind her pokes, didn't bring his teeth anywhere near her and just licked her face a few times, prodding her to push him away.
  

Tomorrow we're heading up to Mendocino, puppy in tow, for an anniversary get away. Fingers are crossed he behaves there as well as he does at home! Thankfully someone invented the travel crate.

July 4th Hiking

To get away from the fog on July 4th, we headed up to Mill Valley with Toby, Steve, Brian and Sunapee for a 6.5 mile hike up in the foothills of Mt. Tam. It was the first hike for "The Pee" and he was a trooper. He did occasionally express his desire to stop and lie down in the shade but he marched on.

Baker beach

Wednesday was a beautiful day so we took Sunapee to Baker Beach where Brian met us to enjoy the sunset, people watch, enjoy a beer and tire out the puppy.

One of Sunapee's favorite items for fetch is this giant flexible frisbee. It's about 3x the size of his head. He usually grabs it from the center and we wonder how he can find his way back to us without the aid of sight.

Watching the puppy with the sun at our backs. The shot always makes me think of a Steely Dan album.

Dirty puppy.