This is how much I love my dog:  He was dripping lake water and covered in sand and dirt.  I still let him in the seat of my precious Land Rover, and I didn't even worry about it.

Brillo is still eager to go out and attack the ducks.

Brills comes ashore in a difficult spot.

Brillo points his first dove!  We were walking back to the car at the end of our walk at Lake Murray the other day (Nov. 12)  He froze and was looking at something in the brush.  I realized, finally, that he was actually pointing, and I peered in to see what he was looking at.  It was a dove!  I let him off hte leash to see what he would do, and the little guy fought his way through the sticks to chase the bird.  Usually, he is a real priss and won't go through thick stuff.  Not this time!  He was on the scent!  Well, I guess the dove got away, or else Brillo's ADD kicked in, because the next thing I knew, he was in the lake chasing ducks.  He had just been repremanded a few days earlier by the park manager, who informed us Lake Murray is a reservoir AND a wildlife refuge and therefore off limits to swimming dogs and people.  WHAT!?  Yeah.  We could have been fined.  So, I was pretty nervous walking my dripping-wet dog back around the lake to my car.  We were lucky to escape without reprimand.

Brillo relaxes in the shade after his first hike at Cowle's Mountain.

Brills investigates the scrub brush along the trail.

Weeeee!  Ears flopping, Brillo runs willy-nilly down the trail.

So fast he's out of focus.

Time to relax.  It was hot, so Brills took a few rest breaks in the shade.

This is one of my favorite photos.  Brillo smiles at the turnaround point.

Look at that big boy!  He is a good little mountain goat!

Brillo climbing a steep section.

About to go down a big rocky section.

Looks spooky!

I just think this is cute.  I love his little doggie butt.

Sniiiiiiffff.  Sensory overload.

Brillo meets his cousins, Star and Wolfgang.  These are Auntie Sherri's dogs.  She was finishing her hike when we were starting ours. 

Brillo starts off on his first hike.

Let me out!!!  Are you gonna open this door, or what?  It's time to hike!

Brills takes a breather in the cushiony iceplant.

Nearing the end of a hot a stickery hike at Sweetwater in Chula Vista.

Holy cow!  Look at all those burrs!  Every little piece of scrub stuck to poor Brillo's fur.  He's like a magnet.  Better yet, he's like velcro.  That's why we're putting "Velcro" at the top of the list for names for our next Griff.  One day, Brillo might get a brother or sister.

Romping through harmless-looking scrub.  That's the stuff that sticks to Brillo like glue, however.

Looking for shade.

Looks like another planet.  This area has been burned down more than once.

Exploring...

Tiny dog; Huge world.

Brillo is heading out on his first hike along my favorite mountain bike trail.  He mainly stayed on the trail, venturing off only when I needed him to follow me on a short cut.

Oh, so that's where they posted the Lake Murray pet rules.  Woops.  I guess I shouldn't have been taking Brillo to Lake Murray to swim!

Brillo explores a side trail.

Coming out of the water after retrieving his quail dummy and chasing ducks.  It was after he came out of the water that the attendent came over the loudspeaker and warned me to get my dog out of the water.  "This is a wildlife refuge.  Dogs must be kept at least 50 feet from the water!"  Woops.

Wow!  Look at those ducks!  I WANT ONE!

I can get used to this...

Quit pointing that camera at me.

Heaven...

This bed thing is really comfy!

Brillo is using Dave's pillow.  His first venture onto the human bed was a pretty good experience.  He's just luxuriating in the high thread count...

Oooooooooh, yeah!  Stretchy, stretchy!

My dog is simply not shy.

The clock says 7:30.  Brillo says it's time to get up.

Hey there.  How you doin'?

Man, this is the life!

Brillo gets in our bed for the first time ever.

After his scary fall off the dock.  I wanted to see if he would jump off the dock after his quail dummy, so I threw it off the side.  He went over to look at it and wasn't paying attention to his feet, or something, and he just fell right in!  He went right under, and I could see him turn around and swim up toward the surface, a look of terror in his eyes.  He broke the surface and paddled furiously, but it took a while to get his butt up to just below the surface where it belonged.  I was yelling for him to swim to me, but he was confused and started paddling out toward the middle of the lake!  I was getting scared he wouldn't figure it out and that he would get too tired, so I was preparing to jump in after him.  Finally, to my relief, he figured out where my voice was coming from and turned around, bee-lining for me.  I laid down on my belly, he swam to my arms, and I scooped him up onto the dock.  As soon as his little paws hit the deck, his legs crumpled underneath him.  He was exhausted.  Cold, scared, and exhausted.  I held out a towel, and he eagerly walked into it so I could rub him down and dry him off.  He stayed wrapped up in his towel on the dock for a while, and then we ran around in the sun to dry off.  By the end of our visit, he was ready to get into the water again.  Whew.  Poor little guy!

Sniffing out the duckies at Lake Murray.