Cosmo's, the Kiddie Pool, and a Stroll

Brillo poses with a couple of our good friends: his clicker and my Cosmos latte. See the slideshow in the sidebar for images of him barking at the latte...

Two fools in a pool.

My little drowned rat.

It's a lot easier to take a self-picture of two people. A dog and a person takes more finesse, but I really love this one.

Brillo loves his mama.

Brillo and I had a pretty big day today, and it started early, thanks to the short, four-legged one. B-man got up around 0600, and he was feeling pretty lively. We played for a while, and he ate, and then we walked down to Cosmo's for a coffee and a leg stretch. Brillo was very good on the way there and back, stopping to sit at each intersection and settling down very quickly while his new lady friends admired him over a latte and talked to me about the wirehaired pointing griffon breed.

A couple of times today, some people who had met him a couple of weeks ago remarked on how much he has grown. A few days after his 8-week birthday, Brillo was 11.3 lbs. A week later he was 13 lbs. Today, one day after his 10-week birthday, the big guy weighed in at 17 lbs! Holy cow! Mama's little baby is growing up overnight! He has a doctor's appointment October 9th, so I'll let you know what he weighs in at then. We're both very excited, because he's getting his second round of puppy shots. Pretty soon, his immunities will be up, and he'll get to sniff (meet) the neighborhood dogs! Better still, we'll finally get to go to Dog Beach! YAY!

After Cosmo's, Brillo helped me roll up the hose and put it on its new hanger. He did a very good job attacking, biting, and barking at the hose while I tried to untwist it. He was indefatigable and didn't stop attacking it until it was completely put away. Brillo loves the hose, and he always has fun biting it and drinking out of it when we're playing in the front yard.

Brillo gets seizes an afternoon power nap. He doesn't often get to use his big-boy bed.

After all that excitement, Brillo and I practiced using our drag leash (I leash him to my belt and make him follow me around the house so I can keep an eye on him), and just before he peed on his big-boy bed in the living room (he slipped out of sight behind the sofa for a SPLIT SECOND), the party boy took a little nap.

Brillio shows some interest in his pool toy. I predict he'll be sticking his head under water in a few months.

In the early afternoon, we both decided it was time to play in the backyard. Because of the heatwave we've been experiencing this week, we agreed to take a dip in the pool. I give him props for getting in for a minute or two and playing with his float toy, but he didn't really feel like staying in long enough to turn into a prune. Pruny paws freak him out, apparently. I suspect he'll embrace his inner water dog pretty soon.

After he got out of the pool the first time, he wasn't so sure he wanted back in...even to attack his mini dodge ball.

Brills (that's his British name) slept for a little while in the afternoon, after his swim, but not for as long as usual. He seemed pretty lively at around 6-ish, so we walked through La Mesa Village in the relative cool of the evening. He was hesitant, at first, to leave the yard, but he warmed up to the walk within the first half a block. Again, he sat at each intersection before crossing the street, and he walked without too many sniff-pauses. (Oh, and we FINALLY met someone who has heard of the WPG breed! She owns a kennel and has seen on or two griffs.) In the downtown blocks, he raced along like a big boy, prancing and smiling. We stopped to talk to a new friend, a nice lady named Nanette who lives a couple of blocks away. She was looking for her kitties when she spied the cutest doggie on the planet and had to meet and greet us. She was really cool, and we look forward to seeing her again. Of course, Brillo wasn't psyched about having to wait while we yucked it up for, like, a 1/2 hour, but he was really well behaved and enjoyed lying on the grass and chewing on his squeaky duck. He also didn't mind showing off a couple of sits for her.

When we arrived back home, neighbor Catherine was out in her yard and weilding a hose, so Brillo got another wild burst of energy and played rambunctiously for a while. He showed her a couple of sits, but they were imperfect and reluctant. He has trouble practicing his lessons when there are distractions, so I won't ask him to do that again until he gets a little older and more polished. I was hoping he'd be as excited to show her his new tricks as I was, but the hose was just so much more fun!

I expected the little fellow to crash out as soon as we got back inside, but he was squirley and needed more time to unwind. I suspected he'd need a good poop before his evening nap (he doesn't poop on walks and saves it, like most of us, for the comfort of his own home), and he did. After all that business, he ate, rested briefly, and was awake again! He started getting cranky around 8:30, so I gave him a potty break and put him in his room. He was out like a light before his head hit his pillow...err...towel. I hope he sleeps well, and I especially hope he sleeps LATE. We're both pretty exhausted.

Somebody, and I'm not naming names, has had too much to drink.