Nice to Smell Ya!

Finn! Oh my goodness, I'm so excited to hear from you. I knew there was another dog here, I can smell you all over the beds, couch and chair. I love to lay on the chair and look out the window like you used to do. I'm not allowed to have toys on the furniture but sometimes I still try. It is hilarious to see her jump up when I throttle myself at her with a squeaky toy in my mouth, I accidentally gave her a bloody nose when I jumped once and my giant head hit her in the face. I felt so bad that I sulked for over an hour on the floor. She didn't get mad at all.

You have a girlfriend? I have a girlfriend too! Her name is Grace and she's SO pretty. She's tall, blond and thinks it's a stitch when I knock her over with my butt then pounce on top of her.  She loves to chase me and she can fit my whole head in her mouth, can you believe it? We have so much fun, I run in circles around Kate's house and Grace totally keeps up with me then she spins around so I can chase her. Sometimes I get going so fast I topple over then she jumps on me. I think it's so much fun to roll around on my back. I love dogs so much!

You were afraid of dogs, weren't you? Our mom says I have nice social skills so I would have made sure you knew I wasn't scary. I love to rough house with Grace but when I meet shy dogs, I lay on the ground and let them sniff me. I bet we could have been friends.

I have to admit, at first I wasn't sure I would like it here. Sure, this lady is nice and all but she was SO boring. Every time I'd try to play by biting her ankles, she took me to my crate. It sucked. But now I'm not in my crate much at all, except when she's gone. I bet you loved all the kids in the neighborhood like I do, we meet so many people that ask about you. She sometimes sniffs when they talk. I try so hard to show all of them how nice I am by tap dancing, bobbing my head up and down then hitting my own butt with my tail. Not everyone wants to say hi to me and that's okay too but I sure love it when they do. At first, EVERY single time I said hello, I heard "off". Such a downer. Now I hear "greet" much more and it seems to make this nice lady happier when I don't try to show my excitement by going mid-air, it's really hard sometimes.

Last week was the best week ever! I got to go play with Grace twice, it was so fun. And, I love Kate too. She doesn't get mad at me when Grace and I tear through the house or when I destroy Bailey's squeaky toys. I do like a good bone but chewing up squeaky toys is SO. MUCH. FUN. And, I got to go to camp twice too! This nice guy Steve comes and picks me up and we ride in the car for awhile then I get to romp and roll in the mud with some really cool dogs. Our mom calls me "dirtball" when I come home but I don't care, I love running super fast and letting the other dogs tackle me. Also, these super sweet people Holly and Brian walk me on Sundays, they are nice and Brian likes it when I sit on the street corners.

You weren't kidding about the nicknames. Sometimes when I get bored, I race around the house and try to get our mom to play by grumbling at her. She calls me "Turd Devil" when I do it. She says I sound like some cartoon character that spins in circles real fast. I like her stepdad too! Once, I got SO BORED of playing fetch, I don't know how you did it over and over and over again. I tried to start a new game with Jim by knocking over a plastic jug of pretzels and watching him pick it up. He played a couple times then shook his finger at me and told me "no"; I barked and laughed at him then charged around the room. I showed him how fun I was by ripping up the rug. It was hilarious but no one else thought so.

I learned some tricks too! They are super fun! I love to drop onto my belly then flop onto my back when she says "bang bang". It's a riot! And, snuggling is so awesome too, once I get tired...nothing can wake me up. Sometimes I fall right off the couch and I'm so pooped that I just go right back to sleep on the rug.

We started some class last week too, at first I didn't like it. There were all these dogs there and I wasn't allowed to jump on any of them. Then, this nice lady Candice gave me lots of hot dogs when I just sat for her, humans are easy, aren't they? It was cool. She must be friends with our mom because she got in the car with us and we went to this place where all these people were sitting on big stools, drinking out of small water bowls and barking at each other. Grace and I share our bowls just fine but none of them shared; it was weird. People kept coming in and out of the door so I got to say hi to all of them, I love to lean on everyone while they pet me. I heard our mom tell her friend that she figured out I was smarter than her. Duh, I knew that the day I moved in.

Well, that's it for now. We are off for a walk, there are so many squirrels and birds by my new house, I bet you liked it a lot. Nothing beats chasing a squirrel up a tree, nothing! The only time I stop stalking is when we go to the big park with all the trees and river. We stop in the same spot all the time and she just looks towards a church for awhile. I smell you there.

Love,
Gavin