Getting into the Christmas Spirit

The staff at Askey worked a Christmas miracle to get Duncan to sit quietly(-ish) for a photo by their tree while wearing a Christmas collar!

(Why, yes, that does look like a treat-containing hand in the top corner. Coincidence, I'm sure.)

Duncan Cuts a Christmas Tree

Today was Duncan's first experience with cutting a Christmas tree. It's hard to believe that he hasn't gone before, since it's been a (nearly) annual tradition with us since for close to 30 years! But two years ago, he was a broken-legged puppy who was having an off-day. And last year, thanks to a series of bad-weather weekends and the big ice storm, we actually had to stoop to buying a pre-cut tree.

It was a drizzly, muddy day,  which meant that the tree farm had endless fascinating smells. Duncan ran from one tree to another, and sniffed every patch of mud within reach:

It took a while, but eventually we found a tree that everyone liked. Duncan thought Megan was acting rather oddly, though:

He forgave her for her strange behaviour once Dad and Evan lugged the tree away, and he could get back to exploring and sniffing around.

Luckily, we brought several large towels along, because he got very muddy! But he seems to have had a great time. 

Next weekend, after Erin gets home, we'll put the tree up and decorate it. What will Duncan think of that?

Update: After such a busy morning, Duncan is spending the afternoon sleeping off the excitement:

The Start of the Season

It's official: the first step toward Christmas happened this morning, when Megan arrived home from school. Duncan was delighted to see both her and Jax. 

Jax was less delighted to see Duncan, and is hiding behind the big chair. What he doesn't realize is that Duncan hangs out back there too, so it may not be as good a hiding spot as he thinks!

A Walk in the Snow

With all due respect to Pierre Trudeau, sometimes a walk in the snow is not for pondering affairs of great importance. Sometimes it's all about dancing, spinning, running, and towing Mom to the park as quickly as possible, ignoring all the rules of Walking Nicely on Leash.

Like this morning, for example. Duncan was full to overflowing with energy and excitement at the snow we were getting.

He wore his spiffy new red plaid coat for the first time. He wasn't very happy about it, but after a sizeable bribe of meatloaf, we got it on and headed out. He tried to shake it off...

... but only managed to loosen the velcro a bit.

When we got to the park, we went into one of the baseball diamonds to run off-leash for a while, trying to burn off a bit of that energy.  First he chased some imaginary snowballs. He doesn't fall for that game as much as he used to, but when he does it frees up a hand for the camera! 

After he'd had a good long run, we did a bit of obedience homework to bring him back down to earth. Today we practiced waiting for the command "Come". 

I tried to trick him, but he's so smart it's very hard to do. Look at the way he caught himself after "Canteloupe"! (Apologies for the poor video quality; between the dull light and juggling mitts, treats, leash, and camera I completely missed the excellent "come" at the end.)