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Introducing Tamarack


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Thank you! Yes, he has gotten very mature looking of late and much more of an 'adult shape'. I overheard some passerby refer to him as 'one of those Egyptian dogs' the other day, which I thought was strange until I looked at some of his pictures and realized he does, at times, resemble a black Pharaoh hound or even a basenji.

 

He had his last parvo shot today and weighed in at 24.5 lbs, not a whole lot more than the last visit two weeks ago. After hearing Willow's weight I was a little afraid he was going to be enormous (not an issue other than that my apartment is not exactly big!), but the vet said he'll probably be 35lbs full grown. That's about what I was hoping for, so that's a relief.

 

He's started teething and subsequently his ears are getting weak; one is leaning in just a tad and flops around doofily when he trots. It's very silly looking, but I think it will straighten out again and the vet confirmed that. I've been adding gelatin to his food to give the cartilage a boost (don't feel comfortable supplementing calcium) just in case it helps. I have no idea if that will do anything, but it's cheap and harmless and his ear does look a little bit better this morning.

 

His training is going well; he's got the basics down and is walking splendidly on a leash when I take him downtown. Almost perfect loose leash walking and when he does hit the end of the leash he's learned that circling back will get us walking again. I was even able to call him off the excitement of seeing another dog ~20 ft away yesterday and redirect his attention to me, which surprised me. He'll be meeting my family for the first time this weekend so I plan on enlisting their help in encouraging butt-down greetings.

 

Still no sign of this infamous teenage uprising, but I suspect there's plenty of time yet for that to kick in. Though, given his demeanor, I'm starting to think he'll be a pretty tame teen!

 

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I'm having fun following the subtle changes in his coat coloration. That last picture shows the funny 'streaky' effect that he's got doing on right now due to the fact that his guard hairs appear to be a very dark red with black only on the tips, and white at the base in certain areas, like right behind the shoulders and on his tail. He's also got white hairs hairs in his butt-ruffs now.

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Oh it is such a joy to watch them in snow (or any time for that matter)!   Ours has all but melted though, so it's back to autumn again for us. Actually it's quite warm and lovely all of a sudden,

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I absolutely love the upright ears--on all the AIDogs. Denakka's left ear is floppy and I'm debating trying to fix it with a curler glued in. I did that for my last GSD and it worked perfectly. I'm back and forth about trying to fix it and letting it be what it is. Either way, he's a doll.....Any opinions out there on fixing those floppy ears???

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Thank you! Yes, he has gotten very mature looking of late and much more of an 'adult shape'. I overheard some passerby refer to him as 'one of those Egyptian dogs' the other day, which I thought was strange until I looked at some of his pictures and realized he does, at times, resemble a black Pharaoh hound or even a basenji.

 

He had his last parvo shot today and weighed in at 24.5 lbs, not a whole lot more than the last visit two weeks ago. After hearing Willow's weight I was a little afraid he was going to be enormous (not an issue other than that my apartment is not exactly big!), but the vet said he'll probably be 35lbs full grown. That's about what I was hoping for, so that's a relief.

 

He's started teething and subsequently his ears are getting weak; one is leaning in just a tad and flops around doofily when he trots. It's very silly looking, but I think it will straighten out again and the vet confirmed that. I've been adding gelatin to his food to give the cartilage a boost (don't feel comfortable supplementing calcium) just in case it helps. I have no idea if that will do anything, but it's cheap and harmless and his ear does look a little bit better this morning.

 

His training is going well; he's got the basics down and is walking splendidly on a leash when I take him downtown. Almost perfect loose leash walking and when he does hit the end of the leash he's learned that circling back will get us walking again. I was even able to call him off the excitement of seeing another dog ~20 ft away yesterday and redirect his attention to me, which surprised me. He'll be meeting my family for the first time this weekend so I plan on enlisting their help in encouraging butt-down greetings.

 

Still no sign of this infamous teenage uprising, but I suspect there's plenty of time yet for that to kick in. Though, given his demeanor, I'm starting to think he'll be a pretty tame teen!

 

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I'm having fun following the subtle changes in his coat coloration. That last picture shows the funny 'streaky' effect that he's got doing on right now due to the fact that his guard hairs appear to be a very dark red with black only on the tips, and white at the base in certain areas, like right behind the shoulders and on his tail. He's also got white hairs hairs in his butt-ruffs now.

 

Thanks so much for sharing all these wonderful pictures and adventures!!! I am enjoying seeing the grow of him!!! I agree with Allison on that one picture.... That's gorgeous!

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Oh! that last picture of him leaping off the ground! He looks like his feet are large. Is he going to be a big boy? Really beautiful.

 

Gramtot: My soon to be 11 year old dog with floppy ears are now having them come straight with extra calcium. It is hard to administer calcium, because it tastes so chalky, but "Missing Link" puppy formula is what has worked for us. Extra calcium in the formula.

 

Your method also works, but I never wanted to try it. He is so expressive with those ears. All Indian dog, no matter what.

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To be honest I'm too afraid to supplement calcium in a growing puppy. I did a lot of research prior to getting Tamarack in order to figure out what food I wanted to put him on and ended up coming across a lot of newer research that said that high calcium diets are extremely dangerous for puppies because they can't regulate calcium processing like adult dogs can, so they end up processing too much and it can cause a lot of damage to their skeletal structure. It's particularly true for large breed dogs, but it sounded serious enough that I didn't want to take any chances.

 

Here's a link that goes into it a little bit - https://www.msu.edu/~silvar/hips.htm

I've read many others that I could track down again if anyone was interested.

 

Gramtot, I've heard of people using moleskin for wayward ears - I wonder if that could be something you might want to try? It seems like it would be more likely to stay in longer than a curler would (I can't imagine Tamarack leaving anything bulky in his ear alone for more than 30 seconds!). Here's a link about it being used in Shiloh shepherds, at the bottom of the page: http://www.whitefangshilohs.com/earbracing.htm

 

Allison, he has the strangest feet. They are HUGE with very, very long toes. That leaping picture makes them look especially odd though, more so than usual haha. The vet didn't seem to think he would be very big, maybe 35 lbs. I suspect he'll be a little more than that, maybe 45? That would be just about perfect for me, here's hoping :D

 

He's already taller than my 35 lb lab/basset mix, but that's probably mostly just because Cairo is, shall we say, vertically challenged.

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Oh, I love those pictures.

 

Of course anything to excess can cause trouble. Water, can even deplete minerals or drown you, and yet you need it.

 

That is why I was so glad to find this puppy formula. A little extra calcium, not enough to taste, so you know it is not too high. Plus the levels on the package are not high, just a little more.

 

If you look at puppy foods, you might be surprised at some of the extremes. You have to read labels and judge for yourself. I am an avid label reader.

 

And also, I feed raw with veggies, so I was glad to fine this supplement. "Dog food" is altogether different.

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Very true! I'm choosing not to supplement calcium because the food I'm using already has the max limit that puppies should have, so in a sense compared to some other foods he may already have 'supplemental' levels. If I were feeding something with significantly lesser calcium levels then I'd probably consider a supplement. And, yes, I probably would if I was feeding raw (oh how I wish I had the freezer space for that!).

 

I have been trying to get a little more glucosamine and chondroitin into his diet. I know there are a lot of good supplements out there, but for now I'm just giving him lots of 'moo tubes' (cow tracheas) to eat, which of course have the added bonus of keeping him busy for 30+ min!

 

I hear you on the label reading... I generally don't buy anything until I've made sure I know and am comfortable with what's in the ingredients/nutritional analysis. I try not to be too obsessive about it, but some of the ingredients in certain foods out there are downright scary.

 

Random barely relevant tidbit on the veggie-feeding- I gave Tamarack a kale stem last night on a whim while I was making soup, fully expecting him to spit it out, sniff it, and stalk off like my other dog surely would. Instead he very carefully dissected it with great interest and separated it into little pieces strewn all about over the course of about ten minutes. His curiosity and willingness to pay attention to even the smallest things is so interesting. The other day he picked up a tiny piece of apple I dropped that was literally just a little piece of the hard casing in the center that surrounds the seeds with a little bit of apple flesh attached. I have never seen a dog dissect something so small with such finesse, but he kept picking it up and, as far as I could tell, rolling it around in the front of his mouth and I guess scraping at the flesh with his tiny incisors, spitting it out, and repeating until all that was left was the hard seed casing scraped perfectly clean of all edible flesh. And all that from a miniscule piece of apple! I also watched him chew the wings off a fly in a similar manner.

 

This dog is fascinating.

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Very true! I'm choosing not to supplement calcium because the food I'm using already has the max limit that puppies should have, so in a sense compared to some other foods he may already have 'supplemental' levels. If I were feeding something with significantly lesser calcium levels then I'd probably consider a supplement. And, yes, I probably would if I was feeding raw (oh how I wish I had the freezer space for that!).

 

I have been trying to get a little more glucosamine and chondroitin into his diet. I know there are a lot of good supplements out there, but for now I'm just giving him lots of 'moo tubes' (cow tracheas) to eat, which of course have the added bonus of keeping him busy for 30+ min!

 

I hear you on the label reading... I generally don't buy anything until I've made sure I know and am comfortable with what's in the ingredients/nutritional analysis. I try not to be too obsessive about it, but some of the ingredients in certain foods out there are downright scary.

 

Random barely relevant tidbit on the veggie-feeding- I gave Tamarack a kale stem last night on a whim while I was making soup, fully expecting him to spit it out, sniff it, and stalk off like my other dog surely would. Instead he very carefully dissected it with great interest and separated it into little pieces strewn all about over the course of about ten minutes. His curiosity and willingness to pay attention to even the smallest things is so interesting. The other day he picked up a tiny piece of apple I dropped that was literally just a little piece of the hard casing in the center that surrounds the seeds with a little bit of apple flesh attached. I have never seen a dog dissect something so small with such finesse, but he kept picking it up and, as far as I could tell, rolling it around in the front of his mouth and I guess scraping at the flesh with his tiny incisors, spitting it out, and repeating until all that was left was the hard seed casing scraped perfectly clean of all edible flesh. And all that from a miniscule piece of apple! I also watched him chew the wings off a fly in a similar manner.

 

This dog is fascinating.

 

Glad to see your using kale as well. I make Hawk's food ahead and freeze it on cookie sheets. I add lots of veggies shredded as well as cooked spinach and cooked kale. He loves it and his coat is so healthy and shiny.

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Woodrat where do you live? I was hoping to maybe have a get together or something of the sort. I'm sure Willow would LOVE to meet another AI dog, especially her brother! We live in Alabama, and anything not more than a state away would be awesome!

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I absolutely love the upright ears--on all the AIDogs. Denakka's left ear is floppy and I'm debating trying to fix it with a curler glued in. I did that for my last GSD and it worked perfectly. I'm back and forth about trying to fix it and letting it be what it is. Either way, he's a doll.....Any opinions out there on fixing those floppy ears???

I wouldn't suggest gluing a curler in his ear. Some of the dogs ears don't go up. Our third 'kid' had crooked ears and Larry was concerned. Took him to the vet who taped his ear up, brought him home and Willie and Shadow took one look at him and when they went out they took the tape and depresser out of his ear as if to say, "Really? Do you know how silly Dad made you look????" I would just leave them be. They may come up and they may not. He'll be handsome whatever happens.

 

Just my 2 cents!!

 

JudyK

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I wouldn't suggest gluing a curler in his ear. Some of the dogs ears don't go up. Our third 'kid' had crooked ears and Larry was concerned. Took him to the vet who taped his ear up, brought him home and Willie and Shadow took one look at him and when they went out they took the tape and depresser out of his ear as if to say, "Really? Do you know how silly Dad made you look????" I would just leave them be. They may come up and they may not. He'll be handsome whatever happens.

 

Just my 2 cents!!

 

JudyK

 

Exactly what I've decided. The weak one goes up when he's excited and/or not tired. Whatever happens, it's my little guy Denakka and I love him. None of his other human friends think I should do anything. One likes it because it gives him character, another likes it flopped because it makes him look rogish, another thinks it makes him look cuter, more puppy-ish. He would look pretty silly with a PINK curler in his ear. Now if he were a girl???? Just kidding. He's my special Denakka with two upright ears or just one!

 

Woodrat, Tamarack is so gorgeous. Let me know when you make the trip to MA and I'll see if I can scoot up there as well. Would be so much fun.

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theses are all great pictures these dogs do love to play in the trees grass leaves watch out for hidden seek they hide you have to find them lol

 

gramtot - hah! I can very easily see where one might have that problem.. Even though Cairo's more likely to turn a cold shoulder to him than anything else, Tamarack still looks up to him and will follow him on 'patrol' around the fence line. It's very funny to see them off on the other side of the field strolling along single file, with Tamarack's waggly little cat tail waving around in the air. He strikes quite a profile from afar with that dark coat of his. And fun and interesting for sure... his behavior is so fascinating, I feel I could watch him all day long and consider it a day well spent.

 

Karen - I'd noticed that in all the pictures on Kim's site and this forum; the gals do have a very distinctive look. I love how 'pretty' they are!

 

Starghoti - Thank you! And yes, it IS surprising, but I don't think I'd want it any other way :lol:

I am glad you say that, because a disc dog is precisely what I had hoped for! He does seem to understand the concept of fetch, but doesn't always do so because he gets distracted or decides he'd rather chew on the toy rather than fetch it, but nothing a little training and encouragement can't fix. And he is only 10 wks :] His favorite toy right now is one of those cat toys that looks like a fishing pole with a bunch of feathers on the end of the line that flutter through the air when you wave it. It's excellent for a quick indoor energy drainer and for working his brain a little because it mimics prey that he can stalk. I can see him starting to gain that coordination you mention - he's starting to take turns faster and get better at predicting where the feather toy will be a second later and meeting it there with a snap of his teeth rather than just following it. It's so much fun to watch!

 

Here are some more pictures from yesterday... he is looking so grown up already.

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Anyone who's seen Raven's picture on the breeders page on Kim's site might get a kick out of that last one - same exact pose and holy cow does he look like his momma!

 

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Hide and seek! Tamarack and I have been playing that, except with me being the hider and he's the seeker! When we're just hanging out outside I've found that making eye contact with him and then bounding away dramatically and hiding behind a tree is an irresistible invitation for him. He'll bound after me and stop just on the other side of the tree and when I peek out he'll jump toward me and BARK! once, which is my cue to pull back behind the tree and immediately peek out the other side, and in response he'll jump to that side of the tree and BARK! again. It's a pretty entertaining game because we have to try to predict the precise moment the other is going to peek around the trunk. He really loves it.

 

We took a trip to my parents' lake house this weekend to visit and it was his first time meeting my immediate family as a whole. He did truly wonderfully and everyone loved him, with the one exception of their older 14 yr old dog. Tamarack adored her and was in no way hesitant to drop hints to that effect, but his super enthusiastic greeting in the beginning was not very appreciated. Nikki is a very sensitive dog and was horrified that there was a rambunctious puppy to jump all over her head, but she seemed afraid to correct him and instead kept trying to flee or stared at me with very large eyes pleading with me to save her. I did intervene and pull Tamarack off her in the beginning but as the weekend progressed and Tamarack calmed down, I stopped doing so and she did eventually give some warning growls. He figured out that she didn't like the enthusiastic greetings but it didn't stop him from continually lavishing her with more subtle signs of affection, specifically chin nibbles and the endearing little side swipe thing he does wherein he rubs his whole body against you with gentle force as he walks by.

 

All in all he had a great weekend and boy did he make me proud! I was hesitant at first to let him loose as he'd never been off leash in a non fenced in area before, but as we were in a rather isolated place with no large roads anywhere around and no neighbors around, I took a risk and slipped the lead off his head. He was quick to prove that I needn't have worried - he stayed with us the entire time, constantly investigating this new world but ever eager to engage with us the moment we offered. He never tried to run off and if he ever got a little too far away in his explorations all I had to do was whistle and he'd come flying back without hesitation. He was a little afraid of the lake itself because it was very windy and there were lots of scary waves, but he did wade in a little bit to retrieve his feather toy.

 

The last day he did actually fall off the dock, and while in retrospect I realize I should have let him swim to shore, I instead hauled him out immediately for fear he would panic at not being able to get back onto the dock. I did at least treat it as if he'd done it on purpose and told him what a good, goood dog he was for being so brave! And he didn't seem afraid to wade back in after his toy again afterwards so I'm counting that as a good learning experience.

 

The whole time he was upbeat, sociable, and a genuine pleasure to have around. It was his first time riding in the car for longer than 45 minutes, and he did wonderfully in that respect as well - curled right up in his crate and slept the whole 2 hrs each way. Good dog!!

 

Few pics from the lake:

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And just a couple general others:

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(he loves the cat, but keeps trying to treat him like a small dog he can rough house with.. he thinks the cat's swats are playful and swats back with his enormous puppy feet in return before chomping down on his head (albeit gently).. I'm trying to teach him that certain cat behaviors are BAD signs and to stop harassing him when he sees them. It's, uh, a long process)

 

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Bottoms up!

 

His coat length(s) are very interesting. His neck and back fur is quite long, but his belly is so bare! Are they all like that? He has no undercoat yet and his fur is very sparse looking in some areas, or well, actually everywhere except his back/neck. Is there any way to tell what kind of coat they'll end up having in adulthood?

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Oh and Nessa, we're in New Hampshire; quite a distance away :\ I hope someday we'll be able to find ourselves within a manageable distance because I know Tamarack would LOVE to see his sister again and if she's anything like him I'm sure she'd feel the same way.

 

Gramtot, I will let you know when I'm down in MA again! I would love to get the pups together for a play date as it's becoming apparent that Tamarack needs one of his own kind to actually keep up with him LOL. His doggy friends don't seem to be interested in playing for as long as he seems to be able to play for, and you can definitely see that 'second wind' Kim talks about kick in when you go to bring them all inside. While everyone else is all tired and "whew that was fun, time for a nap!" little Tamarack starts flying around like a madman.

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Woodrat, those are great photos....Love the body language you caught. :lol: The head shot you got with him sleeping next to the window with the smile on his face....priceless! I also like the one where he has his butt in the air, looking at something very important. I have to laugh every time I see this pose on Tolinka. They are so focused.

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a: congrats on the happy and successful and well behaved visit :lol:

 

b: don't worry about his coat- he is still a young kid and it is between seasons.

Jasper went though coat stages when he was converting from puppy to dog (between 4-6 months) right about the same time he started trading in his teeth. Some of which I saved for his Medicine Bag by the way. :) Along with pieces of citrine and turquoise.

When they finally lose all the soft downy stuff off the bulb of their ears, they are pretty much into their adult coats. ish.

And then it is just the change from winter to summer 'wardrobe' Jasper changes from light in winter to dark in summer due to his cream colored undercoat- :) People always remark, if they haven't seen him in a few months, that he seems to have gotten lighter/darker.. LOL

 

c: don't worry about the cat- especially if he/she still has all his/her claws. Our cat has taught the dogs to play civilly (in cat terms) with little to no bloodshed. A few friendly reprimand nicks on the nose will only teach Tam to respect the cat. lol

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Woodrat, those are great photos....Love the body language you caught. :lol: The head shot you got with him sleeping next to the window with the smile on his face....priceless! I also like the one where he has his butt in the air, looking at something very important. I have to laugh every time I see this pose on Tolinka. They are so focused.

 

 

I second what Miz Molly says!!! the pictures you take are all priceless!!! What time of camera do you have? thanks once again for all the pictures and adventures.... :)

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Bottoms up!

 

LOLOL- you catch some of the great ones there Woodrat!

Love some of the expressions in the other pics, and the "action shot" of these two is awesome.

 

They are so inquisitive and flexible (physically and mentally!) it is amazing- isn't it?

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Thank you! Maria, I have a Nikon D90; it's a little bulky, but I love the capabilities it has. I still haven't figured out how to use it efficiently for crisp, clear action shots though. Occasionally I'll get one just by luck but usually they're slightly blurry or out of focus. It's a work in progress, hah.

 

Starghoti - I can definitely tell there's something 'brewing' in his coat. It's going through some rapid changes right now and it's just so funny to me that he can have such long(ish) hairs but still be sooo nekkid in the belly region! He's getting that funny ridge of hairs that stick out really far on either side of his neck like I see in all the other AIdogs on here, and he's developing a lot more dimension to his coloration- lots of silver hairs coming in, especially in his butt and tail. It looks like his butt fluffs (what the heck are those called anyways??) are going to be all gray from the way the hair's growing in right now.

 

I have actually been having to keep my cat's front nails clipped because I live in a rented space and he has a tendency to use his claws on everything. So I suspect his swatting doesn't exactly convey a whole lot to little T, who thinks they're just all in good fun, though I did just look at his nails tonight and they are starting to grow back in and some are plenty sharp looking. I get the feeling he's not trying THAT hard to defend himself despite how miserable he acts when Tamarack is harassing him. I really don't know. I guess they'll have to work it out eventually..

 

Tamarack starts puppy class on Monday. I have no idea what to expect. So far his biggest challenge is being able to contain his excitement when he's around other dogs, so throwing him in a room full of puppies and expecting him to be able to pay attention to me sounds like wishful thinking at the very best. It doesn't help that two of his friends will be in this class as well. Something tells me there's going to be an awful lot of frustration barking and flailing.. :lol:

 

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Woodrat, I can honestly say that you're photo's are better than almost everyone in my photography class. It helps a lot that T poses for you, and you can tell he trusts you completely. I'll have to get more shots of Willow up soon, so we can contrast/compare the two. Not only being siblings, but also being male/female, it would be awesome to see all the small features they have in common.

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Yep, me too...looks like he is a Jimmy Cagney kinda dog,......man, am I dating myself or what!?1 :lol:

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Karen - that's that delightful snarky side of his personality that shines through now and then LOL.

 

Nessa - Thank you, a compliment like that means so much to me. And yes T is extremely helpful! He'll freeze sometimes when he notices the camera pointed at him because he knows it means he'll get a treat after the shutter click if he does so haha.

 

miz molly - I had to google that name, but at least I can say I know who he is though not well enough to link the name to the face. I had to laugh because you are so right... same exact expression!

 

Tamarack got to experience really deep snow for the first time today. We got about 10 inches of real heavy stuff last night and it was so funny watching his reaction to it. I couldn't help but detect a little bit of indignant annoyance at first - how DARE this nasty cold stuff impede his footfall! He got over it soon enough, but had to resort to the ultimately hilarious looking bunny hops to get around.

 

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