Zen’s best buddy is staying with us for a long weekend. He’s a Shepard/Pyrenees/Viszla mix. He’s a little older than Zen by 6 months and they LOVE to play. They have been at it all day.

They got bones yesterday…

In the sun..

I never got a good picture of it, but starting the third day.. Zen kept trying to mount Blake. It was starting to really weird him out, so Zen had to go into time out a couple of times.

But then there was more running play.

Also on the third day, Blake started obsessing about the chickens.

He was hanging out under the coop for extended periods of time and just watching them.

The pups have finally exhausted themselves. It’s been a good experience and the only mishap is that both got into some cheese today. Tomorrow Blake goes home and will probably sleep for a week.

Today we drove to Pleasenton and attended a swissy meetup sponsored by the Golden Gate GSMD Club. It was fun! Zen was subdued but she seemed to enjoy being there.

Here’s some photos from the day:

Our suburu was on it’s last legs so we bought a new car. Because we got such a great deal, we decided to upgrade and get a bigger suv; The 2013 Kia Sorento GDI LX with the 3rd row option. Its awesome! Better gas mileage than our 2000 outback and more room to boot!

But it came with one complication which was a higher off-the-ground back end. Not a good combination for a 100 pound dog as it ages. So to save Zen’s knees and hips, we are buying a fold up ramp to carry around in the car, and using a staircase at home. Of course, we actually have to TRAIN her to go up and down a stairs and/or ramp. Thank goodness for tri-tip!!!

Now that Zen is one, she’s old enough to wear a pack. She shouldnt carry weight yet but starting to get her used the it’s feel.

I took her to the dog park and let her run around and get her hums out. Then I strapped it on and walked her down the bike path. We didn’t go a huge distance this first time out… But she did have to walk by geese.

She did great! Once back at the dog park, I took it off and let her run around some more to clear her head. Very successful day.

I can’t believe a whole year has gone by since our puppy was born. She is now officially a teenager… and a really really great one at that. I’ve been really absent the last 5 months in terms of doing actual posts with content. Mostly i’ve been posting pictures and saving the updates for friends. But I can’t tell you how much we have learned about training and dog ownership during this time. I want to save this discussion for a later post because I find the subject of dog training really fascinating and also controversial. One thing is for sure: what works for one doesn’t always work for another but you can put money down that everyone and their brother has an opinion about how to do it! I also want to talk more about the controversy about pure-bred dogs vs mixed dogs.. as it’s really been a hot topic in the media lately.

But for now, I will post photos of her birthday party. It was a small family affair. I baked a dog cake for it; it’s a peanut butter carrot cake with yogurt frosting. I got the recipe from HERE. The kids really got into her party and could stop talking about it for days beforehand. They had fun wrapping kibble up as presents, and Papa and I got her a fresh bone from the butcher.

She also got another present.. one that is not so nice. The vet called and let us know that some tests came back and she has Giardiasis. But between the probiatic and the wormer we I picked up today.. we are all set.

I made a peanut butter carrot cake with yogurt frosting. And natural milk bones for decoration.

Maiwenn was really excited to make Zen a party hat.

It didn't stand up by itself, so Maiwenn had to hold it up. Zen was a really good sport about the whole thing.

We had to help her blow out the candle.

we weren't sure how the human food would be in her tummy, so we played it safe.

Not too sweet. I used honey for the cake and the frosting was just plain yogurt.

These were the presents. The wrapped ones were from the kids and had kibble. The fresh meat bone from the butcher was from Papa and I.

Zen REALLY wanted that bone.

She waited for the release command before attacking it.

She's such a good girl. We are so lucky to have her.

Brian started this routine with zen to go down to west cliff before Gavin’s gym class. Yesterday we ended up at the wrong beach, but it was a gorgeous morning.

Today we stayed close to home..

I’m trying to get outside as much as possible so we took another walk at Henry Cowell today. This time I brought the kids. Spring has sprung!

I stopped to fix her gentle leader and I just loved how the flowers matched her eyes. She was just hot…

Big Dog near Big Trees.

In a little over a week, Zen will be one. I can’t believe it’s already been a year. We’ve come so far..

She’s had the runs for the past day.. Here’s probably why.