Raz is a cutey and full of lots of energy...lots! In fact it's been a bit of a battle to keep all of that energy somewhat focused, at least away from destroying things in the house and us. I take him to work all but one day of the week and we usually go on a three to four mile hike every day, which means he probably goes on a four to five mile hike considering how much additional running he does. That seems to help ... a little.

The biggest challenge is his chewing. You really got to keep a close eye on him every moment at home lest he find and destroy one of Zane's toys. We put things away, but nothing stays put away with a two year old boy, who sometimes seems to be in cahoots with the puppy. The best example of this is a hole in the wall in Zane's room. I've been meaning to fix it but keep forgetting or putting it off. Lately both of the "boys" have discovered the hole, with Zane poking and digging at it and Raz chewing it. I put the first layer of spackling on it the other night in an attempt to repair it, but since then Raz has been sneaking in to eat the spackling whenever he gets a chance.

Last week he was neutered, which kind of knocked the wind out of his sails for about a day and a half. The instructions were to keep him inside and non-active for a week. Right. He really doesn't seem to have changed any after the operation (we were sort of hoping for a brain transplant) other than he now smells everything with much greater interest. Taking him into the woods to go to the bathroom has turned into a much lengthier affair now that he needs to examine and cross-examine every particle of smell. Speaking of going to the bathroom he's now trained to go only in the woods. Even when we go on a hike he'll go well away from the trail.

It's great to have a companion for hiking again. Lots of energy and he doesn't run off and get lost. He's a bit of a noodle head when it comes to playing fetch: most of the time he turns it into "chase the dog for the stick/frisbee" or "I'll be over here eating the stick/frisbee." In the house he's either trying to eat things, playing madly, or taking a nap. Never enough naps though. ":^)