Dozer Update

Dozer, Dozer, Dozer...

This sweet puppy kills me. Mike picked him up back in July and he was so timid and shy. And he was so small, though people sometimes thought he was a baby cow.

I have learned that Saint Bernards are mellow calm dogs, and Dozer is especially tender and soft. He doesn't do well when you yell at him, but he excels when he is praised and loved. Mike is a good daddy/owner for him... constantly talking to him and loving on him. Dozer trots after Mike all around the house nonstop, always wants to be by him.

I have been surprised at how much Dozer loves me too. Since I spend so much time over at Mike's, I'm the only other person the dog sees all the time. He is ALWAYS excited to see me, and always wants to play.

He's 8 months old now and growing like crazy, but I sometimes look at him and still think he looks small. Probably because he has such a big puppy heart, he sometimes gets so riled up and will run in figure eights around the scrub oak in the backyard like it's the best game in the world. He doesn't know how to fetch but would rather play tag with you... he likes when you chase him, and then he will chase you. He is such a good dog. He sometimes will be playing and running wild in the backyard, then stop and give you the cutest look like "are you going to come play?" and it melts my heart. He will run around the empty house that Mike is remodeling and totally slip and fall on the slick pergo flooring that hasn't been replaced yet. It's hysterical. But the majority of the time he just likes plopping down in the same room you are in and sleeping. Then when you move rooms, he'll get up, follow you... and plop down there.

I have been a non dog person my whole entire life so it's been a huge adjustment for me, I don't like the slobber, I don't like worrying about him home alone during the day. I am UBER aware of all the things I used to dislike about dog people, so I try and refrain from talking about him too much, showing too many pictures of him, aaaand I try my best to beat him away from people who don't want their butts and crotches sniffed... 

I've posted some pictures of him on instagram, but here's some good ones from the past few months:

this is from the first day we got him and didn't know what his name was yet, 

he stared up at me from this shopping cart at petsmart and I fell in love:

from Dozer's first hike... he got pooped along the hike

(which I should tell you was really a stroll along a mountain road),

crawled under a shady bush and wouldn't be coaxed to take another step.

Mike had to carry him back to the trail head to the water,

where he laid down and (I'm guessing) cried:

riding in the jeep... I love his little paws on the middle console:

One of his many trips to Home Depot:

his favorite toy, a ball tied to a scrub oak branch:

another hike he's been on a few times, the desolation trail up Millcreek Canyon:

in the backyard with the salsa garden:

from when we got to go hunting with Mike:

Dozer's New Year Resolutions:

and some good ones from our trip to Jackson Hole this past weekend:

he loves the snow.

He's in his second round of puppy training right now, and loves it.

Mike wants him to be a therapy dog.