Dog year.

Tomorrow marks the one year adoption anniversary for the little fur bag. He has grown up a lot! Not so much in size, granted he has sort of filled out a little, but his personality is so different! The first time I met him, he ran into my lap and rolled around like a crazy beast, all sweet and happy. I knew he was going to be a handful, but whew, there were some nights were he was just insane. He really was scared of everything. During the first week, he got nervous trying to adjust and ended up getting poopy all over the place. We were walking every 30 minutes during one of the few times in Boulder it ever rained... It was a fun night! It helped him learn his name though. He had been Hoshiko, but Shinobi is a much better fit. My little frightened ninja.

Eventually, he calmed down. He got into a routine and that helped so much. A friend gave me her dog's old training crate, and I build him a doghouse at the end of the bed. He didn't really care for the crate, but I think it helped to have something be his. After the first 6-8 weeks, I rarely put him in it, it was just open for him to visit whenever he wanted. Now it's tucked in the corner by the chimney, his Batcave.*

He has learned not to be afraid of as much. In the beginning, it was kind of everything, weird stuff... He still does not like most people, he's terrified of children, but if you have a dog, he's more likely to give you a chance. The leash that scared him so much the first day is his daily leash now. That one took a long time! He's only been using a retractable leash for a few months. The noise used to freak him out too much. He has learned that biting isn't the way to get my attention. I spent the first 3 or 4 months with tiny bruises all over from Sir Nips-A-Lot trying to chomp on a random part of me.  He knows now that if I say ouch, it hurts and to stop. I kind of though it was a stupid thing to do when the trainer suggested it, but it works! It's the first thing I automatically say when I get hurt, so if we're playing and he gets too rough, he stops and usually gives me a nose lick.

He's a sweet little cuddle monster most of the time now, but that took a lot of time. He's still wary about jumping on the couch with us, even though we both love having him lay all over us. He spends most of the day napping at the foot of the bed. He takes breaks to come stare out the sliding glass doors at the trees and critters. He loves getting brushed (thank goodness!) and goes into this kind of doggie bliss state when brushed. He loves getting his butt rubbed; he groans, snorts, growls, and kind of purrs.

We have walked hundreds of miles, some with me trying to coax him to take three steps past a trash can some on wonderful hikes through the woods. He has spent hours and hours and hours on my lap as we drove the slowest, most uncomfortable truck ever from Colorado to California. He has jumped into snow drifts almost as tall as me and popped out, white-nosed and happy. He's a good little dude and I'm glad he he's here.



 
*Name stolen from Amber, but also matches his Batsuit (leash/harness), all black.