Astro's 18 Month Birthday!

This little guy was 18 months old on January 27!  It turns out I had already planned to have a group of friends over that night for dinner and games, so Astro and Zephyr had a fun being loved on all night.  Astro is such a great boy.  He's very smart and I have to say he is a little more focused during training than Zephyr.  I think he has slightly less prey drive than Zephyr and I wonder if that makes the difference.  He did great in agility last year and I'm excited to get back to classes and more training in the spring.  I'm hoping that I can enter him in some NADAC trials late this summer and fall.

Astro is still full of puppyhood, he is so playful with dogs and people, lots of fun for everyone.  When he was a baby he had only a few of the freckles.  It was a lot of fun to watch them show up and try to count them as he got older.  He can be a little more, shall I say, assertive than Zephyr.  For example, when he wants under the covers he doesn't just work the sad eyes or nudge and poke with the nose.  He forcefully tries to push his way through me and under the covers.  And, the boy doesn't like to take "No" as an answer and often verbalizes his disapproval.  He is also a very loving pup who loves to cuddle up with Zephyr, me, or others.  Of course he and Zephyr are really close, and I should credit Zephyr with teaching Astro how to be such a good boy. 

Astro has also shown signs of maturity.  He no longer has the little white lines of healing scratches on the bottom of his nose caused by kitty cats teaching him proper manners.  This does not mean he doesn't love his kitties though and he is often checking in on them and seeing if they might want to play.  By the way Pablo, the silver tabby on the left, is quite the disciplinarian.  Pablo has often been known to have poor Zephyr afraid to pass him in the hall or afraid to get on the couch or big chair and barking for me to come and rescue him.  

I'd like to enter Astro in some conformation shows this winter and spring, we'll see how it goes.  It's hard for me to show here in Arizona because we're usually the only greyhounds.  But, it's fun and I think it's good experience for them being around other dogs and people.  Like all kids Astro has quite the imagination, here he is pretending to be a cat on the famed blue cat bed.  Everyone loves this bed, cats and dogs, and so, me too.  It's cuddled my kittens, elderly cats, and Zephyr loved it when he was a puppy.  Time moves way too fast.  It seems like yesterday that Astro came home and now he's 18 months old and a big, 75 pounds, handsome guy.  I'm sure he has a bright future waiting for him.  Happy 18 months Astro!

Zephyr's 4th Birthday

The Sweetest Face!!!

Zephyr had his 4th Birthday on January 6.  It's hard to believe he is four, most of the time it seems like he's still a puppy.  He had a fun day.  We went for a long walk in the afternoon and after dinner we all had some pumpkin pie.  Yum!  

Right before the New Year we had a good snow storm so Zephyr and Astro have had a lot of fun playing in the snow.  I never get tired of watching them play.

They never seem to get tired of playing in the snow either.  One of the funnest things I like to do is to run downhill in deep snow, kind of like glissading, you can jump really far and the landing is so soft.  So, I can understand why they think it's a blast too.

I usually don't make them wear their jackets because they stay plenty warm running around.  But we had a few days of high temperatures in the teens and low twenties, cold for us. 

Laughing Hyena's?

I just want to know what these two are saying to each other?  

Astro Catches Some Air!

On the day our high temperature reached a balmy 15 degrees I took the boys out for a walk around the neighborhood.  I had them wear their booties, which combined with all the snow made them extra skippy.  Wee!

Happy Little Mountaineer!

Happy Big 4 Year Old Mountaineer!