Happy birthday Kipling!

My puppy turns two years old today. Puppy. Baby-Dawg. Not so much of either at this point - physically or mentally. I still look at him sometimes and think "wow, he's so immature looking", then a few moments later "he's looking a bit like a grown-up". He's much lighter boned than his father - not feminine, but lighter. He has these dainty feet which contrasts with Teller's moose feet. He has moments of surprising maturity, and then moments where I look at him and have to ask "seriously?" You're going to chase the cat again? I thought we were done with that.

Kip is my one dog that wants to sleep in the bed at night - usually on the pillows, curled into the tiniest ball one would not think possible for a dog his size - touching his human. It might be a tail, it might be a toe, but he seems to like reaching out to know where he is (and probably a bit of where he belongs) - though he doesn't always choose the same human to touch, so he's an any port in the storm kinda boy.

April 17th, 2013

Teller, Kip and Murphy wearing party-hats from sister Jordan.

Note how completely thrilled Teller and Murphy are to have 

new hats to wear for the occasion. They liked the enclosed 

cookies MUCH better.

Kip has blossomed in his agility work too - running like a big dog and finishing his MXJ the last run of his career as a one year old. When he started trialing one day a month back in August (September and October) to get through Novice, I had no idea he'd be in masters, already with three double-Qs and a pile of MACH points just six months later.

So today he celebrated his second birthday with some a-frame reps in the backyard this morning (trying to break the trial-only behavior of stopping at the top of the a-frame) and then a practice session in the barn this evening. In between he got a four mile walk (two miles with Teller and two miles with Murphy), a care package from his California sister Jordan and some green tripe with ground trachea. For second-birthday supper the boys each got a whole mackerel now that it's warm enough to restore the summer tradition of of outdoor meals.

Kip is Karnerblue Magica Storyteller AX MXJ CGC BA-Senior