Latest "news"

Well, we've had our first bit of rain the past few days, and thankfully, Kaline does not seem to be fazed by it. He heard his first thunder the other night—he boofed once, as if to say, "Go away!" and then decided he didn't really care anymore. Juno doesn't care either. Yay. Their predecessor, Angel, would attempt to dig through the floor to China whenever it thundered, or if fireworks were set off anywhere in the county.

Since the game, we've had a quiet week, just walks and training as usual. Kaline's gotten in a lot of leave it work—showed up a Golden Achiever a little bit at the park. It must be noted that the Golden Achiever hasn't had nearly as much practice, though.

Dad and I took the pups to the Tony LaRussa event at Kepler's, which was pretty fun. Juno was off-duty, Kaline was on-duty, as you can see from the picture. Kaline did well, although he started to lose it toward the end. He'd been working on holding a quiet down-stay for a really long time (for him), so it was understandable that he got restless. He whined a little; also tried to snuggle up to Juno, who objected a little loudly. "Is there a dog here?" asked Mr. LaRussa, sounding a little eager—he has an excellent organization, Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF). "Two!" I replied. Eventually I took Kaline in the back of the crowd and let him stretch his legs a bit. There were three pet dogs there as well (Kepler's is extremely and delightfully pet-friendly) so Kaline was definitely a bit distracted. He had a good time though, and was a good boy.

Because of the cold, we've been doing even more snuggling than normal. Can't complain about that! Today, Juno was on my chest and Kaline was between my feet, a nice little reversal of the usual order of things. Juno is still pissed off if Kaline "screws around" in the kitchen/family room (I have mocking quotes because her definition of screwing around encompasses such innocent acts as walking near her, or sniffing in a way she deems inappropriate, or touching her ever). However, whenever I unleash them from a walk, she'll wait for him at the top of the stairs and pounce, then gambol off invitingly so he'll come wrestle with her. The couches are all out of whack down there because they will bodyslam each other into them. Kaline always ends up with his ears and neck covered in Juno slobber, haha.

They do well in the car together when it's just them. Kaline is still having issues being settled when friends jump into the car. Friends who are not Max, that is; my beloved puppy wrangler enforces order most effectively. Today I found them snuggling adorably.

Isn't Kaline's Hallowe'en sweater cute?

I guess there's not too much news lately. Funk seems to have lifted, at least, and we've got a couple fun things planned for the weekend. Juno gets to see her bestest friend in the whole world, my former coworker Alex, tomorrow. Should be hilarious. Maybe I'll take video!