According to our records Raz was born on the 28th of December, so he's five months old tomorrow. Which, in my book, still very much makes him a puppy. There are moments of "clarity," if you will, where he acts like a well mannered, older dog.

But then there's all of the other moments. Oh, boy!

We haven't had any problems with his housebreaking in a long while, so that seems to be under control. He still tries to sneak the odd nibble of old poop from time to time, but that's been much better. Doesn't seem to bite as much, in general, but he also tends to lose his mind at least once a day and during that time all bets are off. Sometimes the marble losing is funny, like when he runs around the family room at full speed, taking laps through Zane's tunnels. But other times they are intimidating or frustrating, like if it happens while you are on a walk or trying to get some work done.

Puppy training class has been a great help. Having trained Zeke (years ago!) I was hesitant to pay someone for a class, but it has been great for a number of reasons. Chief among them is socialization. Raz gets to hang out and lose his mind with a roomful of other puppies as well as learn to be calm with a roomful of puppies. He also practices being calm with the instructors putting him through the paces. We also learn a fair bit, getting more "tools" in our dog knowledge base on how to deal with him.

The main thing that seems to keep him happy is exercise and play. I try to take him for a long walk in the woods most days at work and then have one or more, fifteen minute play sessions where he fetches and runs and even tries to find hidden things. We just need to try and keep our perspective, that he's still a pup and is growing, learning, screwing up, getting smarter, and at times might be a total whacko!