Happy Father's Day!

Unlike my Mother's Day post, I actually planned ahead this time and saved a Daddy-related post for Father's Day. Please don't mistake this as a sign that I'm becoming more responsible, still haven't bought those wedding gifts.

I never thought Forest had a favorite parent. If Nick and I are both puttering around the house, the puppy will usually stick with me. If I'm working in the upstairs office and Nick is watching TV downstairs, Forest will most likely stay with Nick. If the puppy had to choose one of our cars to ride in, he would pick mine (probably because my car is lower to the ground, making it easier for the stubby-legged puppy to get in). But this week Forest made it clear that in a specific situation, Nick is his preferred parental figure.

We had a brief thunderstorm on Thursday. Forest doesn't like the rain, but he usually doesn't make much commotion and has even slept thru storms before.  However something about this storm transformed Forest into a total wuss. The puppy huddled in the corner of the kitchen and started shaking. He wouldn't eat any food or drink water. At first we thought he was sick. Then he began following Nick around the house. Forest is a big cuddlier, but he was always suave about it, like "Oh you're sitting on the couch now? I guess I'll just meander on to your lap for a quick nap." But during the storm, Forest was adamant about being as close to Nick as possible. For example, our puppy usually hates sitting in office chairs. He gets all fidgety like he thinks there's not enough room and he's afraid he's going to fall off. On Thursday, Forest was jumping on Nick's legs trying to claw his way up onto the office chair. I tried calling Forest to join me on the couch, but nope, Forest wanted to sit in Dad's lap, screw Mom.

We finally came to the conclusion that the thunder was frightening our puppy. Although Forest loved his Mommy, only Daddy would suffice when Forest was really scared.

So in celebration of Father's Day, here are some pictures of the Dads in Forest's life.  Starting, of course, with Forest's Daddy:

Forest's grandfathers, Grandpa Chuck…

…Grandpa Neil...

...and Grandpa John:

Uncle Jason, who kindly acts as Forest's surrogate Dad when we're on vacation:

And finally, Great Uncle Scott:

Happy Father's Day!!!

Happy Father's Day!

Little Leo

I visited my family in Colorado over Easter and got to spend some more time with Forest's little cousin, Leo. I had a wonderful vacation, but I think Leo may have had a rough holiday. His troubles began before I even arrived (so he can't directly blame me for this) when he got an outdoorsy bath. Apparently somebody was a stinky doggy…

Who needs a bathtub when you have a bucket and hose?

Some dogs like being in water...other dogs are like Leo, just pissed.

Photo proof that Leo is related to Forest, just look at that licky puppy!

During my vacation I discovered that Leo is still spunky to the core, but he's learned to hone his hyperness. For example, he used to be run-around-jump-on-furniture crazy, but now he's more like when-you-at-least-suspect-it-I'm-going-to-eat-your-foot type of crazy. Seriously, I have bite marks on my toes from that damn dog. So when we drove out to my folk's new place, Leo had to spend some time in his carrier crate while we took a tour of the house. He was not happy with this...

"Why did you put me in a freaking pink crate?"

"I'm ready to get out now please."

We thought Leo would like the dog-run at my parent's new place, but he only ran around for a few minutes before sulking at the gate.

He's like a prairie dog on guard duty..

"Who goes there?"

We kinda threw Leo off his regular eating schedule with all our comings and goings that weekend. Leo still ate all his meals, but not always at the standard times. 

When Leo's hungry, he drags his dinner bowl around and throws it at you. 

Subtle puppy, subtle.

But I did find one scenario where the little mutt seemed to have an advantage. While Forest only has a designated puppy blanket, Leo has a designated puppy throne:

"MINE, fuck off."

Little Leo

Forest's Cousin

Introducing Leo, the pug-beagle mutt.

My sister adopted her puppy a week or so before we found Forest online (which sounds odd, right? Probably only a matter of time before you can order a baby online too). I finally got to meet Leo when I spent a few days in Colorado over Christmas. 

Awww, baby Leo.

My official conclusion: that dang puppy is just a ball of energy wearing a fur coat. Seriously, I didn't know little dogs could jump so high and effortlessly until I met Leo. He'll just look at a chair and suddenly he's sitting in it. Blink, and now he's on the couch. Forest looks like an arthritic, elderly dog in comparison. When our puppy is thinking about jumping up on the couch, you can practically see the gears turning in his head. He'll warily gauge the distance, arrange himself in the crouching position, sometimes even give a little butt wag as he digs his claws into the carpet, and then catapult himself onto the cushions. Most of the time he makes it.

Leo sporting his "fang". You can't really see it in these pics but sometimes his lips get stuck around his teeth, creating the impression that he's curling up one lip and is going to start singing "Hound Dog" at any moment.

One of these days we'll get the two puppies in the same state so they can play and compare stories about how silly their owners are. "They make you wear a piece of fabric around your neck too? Put you in a cage when they leave the house? Follow you around and pick up your poop? Total weirdos."

Forest's Cousin