doggy updates

we've had blue for a little over a week and he has really come out of his shell since the first couple of days we had him.

as we suspected, he was younger than what the pound originally estimated after the vet told us he was probably around 1 year old.  his temperament hasn't changed much, still easy-going and mellow, except that he does have a bit more energy to burn being that he's still a young dog.  he does test his limits every once in a while to see what he can get away with, but we run a tight ship with him so that he doesn't think he owns the house.

he began developing some separation anxiety a few days after we got him, and would howl every time we would leave.  however, we've noticed that if we exercise him enough during the day, there's now no howling (maybe a little whine or two here or there) when we leave him behind.

so good ol' blue, emma and i take a nice, long 1 hour walk in the morning, and then a short 20-30 minute walk most evenings with the whole family.  he walks very well on a leash, so after he gets his potty break i wrap the leash around the stroller and he walks right beside me.  now that he's gained some weight and some of his strength back, we did find that 1 hour is the minimum length we should walk him a day.  the times where i only walk him 30 minutes in the morning, ends up in a howling session if we decide to go anywhere without him.  fortunately, we have began using a doggy backpack (currently filled w/ about 8 lbs. of spaghetti squash and diaper wipes), and for the days i'm short on time a 30 minute power walk ends up exerting the same amount of energy as an hour walk.  it also provides him with a sense of purpose...a task to do. he does 10 times better focusing on his walk with a backpack (not that he doesn't do well already without it) on.  and he even does a few "working" howls when he gets in his working zone (you know, those howls hound dogs do when they track a scent and are in their working mode).  it makes me laugh, because it's such an instinctual thing.  

needless to say, we LOVE the doggy backpack.

after a good work-out and a good meal, he pretty much just lies around and sleeps.  what a life.