It seems I let Raz's first birthday come and go without so much as a picture. He was born on one of the last days in December, 2008 and we adopted him ... what was it, March? Seems like much longer. If we tallied his age by how many things he's chewed and destroyed he's like a hundred or so, at least when compared to Zeke. But we got Zeke when he was around a year old so it could be that Raz is about to turn that corner of less chewing ANY DAY NOW! (we all shake our heads vigorously)

Raz is a mixed bag in the behavior department. Mom came out to visit and it was interesting watching her view of him change, from "just a puppy" to "evil incarnate" at times. Overall he's improved quite a bit just in those three months, but boy he has some days where he really backslides.

He and I go hiking almost every day. With the snow the walks are shorter but no less strenuous. Raz is total energy dog: he may clumsily tiptoe around the woods when you have him on a leash and are trying to get him to go bathroom, but let him off the leash during a hike and he's moving non-stop, high speed the entire time. I didn't realize how much wildlife there was until we got some snow cover to show off footprints. It's a zoo out there and Raz is head down, nose skimming the ground, following each scent as fast as he can. Some times he flushes a deer and makes a merry chase. There's no barking, just a yarp if he stumbles in the boulders or trees, and there's certainly NO pointing. The consensus had been that Raz was part Border Collie and part Pointer, but he hasn't shown traits of either. If stubborn and persistent is a breed, then he's one of those. And have I mentioned that he chews everything? ":^)

On his good days he really is a nice dog. He listens to commands, mostly comes when called, and is pleasant company. We just got to keep working on reinforcing that.