Puppy Fluff

 

This is Conker shortly after we got him.  He was four months old and still had quite a bit of puppy fluff.  His legs were shorter and he was a bit stocky.  His face had more of a puppy look and he was really soft.

Now he's blown almost all of his puppy coat and his first adult coat is coming in.  At first his coat was solid red and white with a few white hairs on his neck.  Now, his back and sides have white spread through them evenly, probably 2 red hairs to every 1 white.  Some of the hairs are white with red tips, others red with white tips.  And some are black with red and/or white tips, a few others are completely black or black tipped.  Those are on his head, sides of neck and tail.   His undercoat has three colors depending on where it is; red, white and gray.

At nearly seven months, doesn't look like a puppy anymore.  He seems to be in a scrawny stage with his long legs, thin body and no undercoat.  I've been trying to up his food to put a bit of meat on him but he must be using it all to get greyhound legs or something.
For a while there he was pretty rough to the touch but now that his undercoat is beginning to grow back (and he got a bath) he is getting softer again.

More snow.

It snowed about eight inches last night, more in on the way.  At first Conker didn't like how deep it was but now he loves to hop through it.  It's pretty funny looking and fun to watch.

Leash burn.

I dunno of that actually exists, but Conker's got some sort of rash on his inner thigh that showed up today.  It's either from the leash or him chewing and I don't think the chewing caused that.  I'll try to get a better picture of it later.
Anywho, I'm guessing he caused it since he frequently attempts Shiba 500's outside and is usually stopped by the leash flipping him over.  It got caught between his legs today and he was spun around and onto his side by it.  He usually doesn't growl (actual growl) during his 500's but he did after he was tripped by the leash.  I thought nothing of it until later on while I was rubbing him I noticed the red rash that looks a lot like carpet burn.
Oh well, he didn't learn his lesson either and continues to be a dork on-leash.

In other news, it's snowing again.  Gonna be anywhere from 6-10 inches this time.

The bed is mine.

He thinks the bed is his.  He gets all huffy when it's time to put him in his crate.  He gives me sad looks and whines right after being put in the crate.  He wants to be on the bed, because he thinks it's his.

Hiking!

I have been looking for a place to hike here in Missouri for a long time.  I didn't want to have to drive 60 miles away and the trails had to be dog-friendly or I wouldn't even conciser it.  I finally stumbled upon a book called 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of St. Louis, but I haven't found it in a store yet.  I saw a "clipping" of it on someone's hiking site and took a look.  The outlined trail happened to be only 11 miles from where I lived!
It's called the Lewis and Clark trail (not the real thing, that's way too long to hike...)  and there is an option of taking the 5.3 mile loop (Clark) or 8.3 mile loop (Lewis).  It was a fairly easy trail, considering how much I'm not in shape.  It had some easy spots and some hard spots and was overall a nice adventure.
Conker did far better than I and wasn't out of breath once, unlike me who had to take several rest breaks to catch my breath.

Conker made several stops to sniff at leaves and such, but he would also stop and stand on something and look back at me then stare off into the distance.  If I didn't take a picture of him he'd keep looking back at me until I took one.

Rocky Outcropping #1.  This one had the smallest drop.  The river in the background is the Missouri River.

This part of the trail was a lot steeper than it looks.  It was also quite muddy.   Conker wanted to run down it.

Rocky Outcropping #2.  This one had a HUGE drop.  Conker wasn't interested in the edge and stayed away from it, for the most part.

 Rocky Outcropping #3.  Conker found that tree to me far more interesting than the view.

Earlier that day, someone set the woods next to the trail on fire.  Some firefighter dudes had put out most of it but were still working on a few logs.  Conker didn't like the smoky smell and didn't want to walk by the freshly burnt leaves.


Conker and I stopped at the treat store on the way home.  He got a Himalayan Chew for the first time and LOVES it!  I'm not going to let him power through it like he does to the bully sticks though...  He only gets it after long walks or hikes and then only for about 30 minutes to an hour.  I also discovered that giving him part of a Texas Taffy chew while riding in the car made him a lot less nervous.  He attacked it the second I brought it out of my pack and laid down with it between his paws for the ride home.

We are going to go back to the trail sometime soon.  Either this upcoming Saturday or Sunday, or possibly wait until next Wednesday.  I'm hoping to make it a weekly thing.

The bed has been Conker'd!

Yeah, that was uber cheesy.

 Fred and I are avid Goodwillers.  We scour thrift stores for all kinds of useless goods and ocasionally, we stumble upon something useful. 

Conker did not agree.  (Only cost me $12!)

However, he has FINALLY figured out how to jump onto the bed all by himself.  I was dreading the day this would happen since he has a habit of licking the sheets until they are soping wet.  Sometimes, if he is good he doesn't have to sleep in the crate in the closet.  If he's bad, or if we don't want to share the bed, into the crate he goes.  If he's really bad, the door gets closed until it's open about 8 inches or so.  He's usually better after that.