Happy 1st Birthday, Albert!!!!

Indeed, today is Albert's birthday - no joke! It was too wet outside to run and play, but he did get some treats to unwrap. Here are two pictures of him (our 44lb fur-ball!) opening one of his birthday presents from the kids.

Kids playing with Albert

Quick video of the kids playing with Albert today after school...

New trick

Albert is (we hope) near full-grown at 36 lbs, truly a beautiful dog. I will post new pictures very soon. Today I trained him with the clicker to fetch my backpack from the living room and drag it to my office! He is a smart one, indeed! The training took all of ten minutes. He badly wants to please us, and is always trying to do just that.

We love our Albert!

Season's Greetings

We're having great fun with our buddy Albert! Here is a picture from our forthcoming greetings card.

Weight gain

Watching Albert eat a bit today, I realized that he has gotten to be a big boy. Here is the detail from his vet record:

Date Weight
5/19/08 6.10 lbs
6/09/08 11.30 lbs
7/07/08 17.00 lbs
9/30/08 33.30 lbs

Albert was also microchipped this week. A computer chip with identifying information was placed under his skin near the shoulder blades. If Albert were to ever be lost, someone could scan his body for this information and be able to help him find home.

All fixed?!?

Well, today was a big day for Albert. He had his surgery to be 'fixed.' In the long run it's for the best, but he is awfully pitiful right now and not appreciating the irony in the term being 'fixed.' Hopefully he'll be back to himself in no time, though he will have to wear the cone (I'm uncertain of the technical name for the headgear) for over a week. We have to keep him from licking his wound. He'll have his stitches out next Friday and then it will all be a distant memory for him.

Albert TV - clips at 4 months

Can't really justify the time spent on this video, but I had to take a short break from work...

Here is Albert, four months old on Friday, showing off a few of his tricks.