Bosco Graduates

Today, Bosco graduated from Puppy Kindergarten.

[As usual, click on image for larger view.]

Bosco is Half a Year Old!

In honor of a special day (Bosco's six-month birthday), special photo coverage: not one, not two, not three, but four pictures

Last Saturday, at PetSmart, before his Puppy Kindergarten class, he weighed 62.8 pounds. We are nearly 2/3 of the way to the 100 pound lap dog that we were promised. And sure enough, last night, he was up in my lap while we watched TV and played fetch the ball.

Next Saturday is Graduation Day - completing 8 weeks of Puppy Kindergarten. We plan to enroll him in the Intermediate class starting in June.

[Click on the pictures for full-sized view.]

Five Month Old Bosco

Bosco was five months old on 31 March. Here's his official birthday portrait. As is obvious, he is maturing into a noble hunter, befitting his field champion ancestors. Inside, though, he is still the tiny ball of fluff who loves his belly rubs and sleeping with his original stuffed toys.

He has finished three weeks of his eight-week Puppy Kindergarten at PetSmart. He now knows "Sit", walking on a loose leash, "Down", "Leave It" (for things he's not supposed to pick up) and "Drop It" . He gets along extremely well with his classmates, who range from a tiny Teacup Yorkie who can't weigh more than a few pounds through a couple of Chihuahuas, to a pair of Scotties, and a Boxer and a Rottweiler. They range in age from two to five months. Naturally, Bosco is the star of his class in all the exercises - it's just what Labradors do.

When he was at the Vet's to be "put in neutral" a couple of weeks ago, he weighed 51 pounds. We are sure that by now he must weigh something over 60 pounds.

[Click on image to enlarge.]

Bosco at Four Months

Today, Bosco is Four Months Old. The best we can estimate, holding him as still as we can while balancing on the bathroom scales, is that he weighs 44 pounds. Some change from the wee 8 1/2 pound ball of fluff that came home with us only 11 weeks ago!

His favorite times of day, in general order of his preference, are: Chow Time, Play Time, Nap Time, and Bed Time.

So far, he's only slipped and partly fallen into the pool once, but was able to scramble back out, with our help. We expect many more Labrador swimfests as the weather warms up - his huge webbed paws already look like swim fins when his toes are spread.

He likes retrieving his tennis ball and his special stick, and will chase them for hours - longer than his humans can throw them for him.

He sleeps through the night in his private den in the corner of our bedroom, but is always ready for an "outside" and breakfast by 5:30 am.

[As usual, click on the image for an enlarged view.]

Bosco is Three Months Old

Yesterday Bosco was three months old. He has outgrown his red puppy collar and has graduated to the next larger size - 16 to 22 inches.

He celebrated being 1/4 year old by helping us prune the bottle brush tree in the backyard.

He contributed by dragging pruned pranches around the yard until Marguerite could catch him and cut them up for the green trash bin. He also helped by attacking the rake as she cleaned up the leaffy scraps.

[Click on image for larger view.]

Just Because Bosco

Just because we haven't posted anything lately, here's the most recent Bosco pic.

He has discovered Jake, the huge yellow lab next door. Jake puts his paws atop the five-foot tall fence and looks over at wee Bosco. Bosco really likes Jake, and is sometimes seen peeking through knotholes at Bosco level into Jake's yard. We're looking forward to the time that Bosco puts his paws on the fence and looks across eye to eye at Jake!

You can see the speed of the happy Bosco wag in the blurred tail here.

Bosco is Two Months Old

Today Bosco is Two Months Old!
[As usual, click on image to enlarge it.]

Bosco Helps Mommy on the Patio

A Very Bosco Christmas

On Christmas Day, Bosco helped everyone open their packages, especially his Lisa.

Today, he is eight weeks old, and ready to begin his basic training. Today we are going to start working on walking with a leash.

And here's Bosco surrounded by his Christmas "Loot".

[Remember: click on image to see larger picture]

Bosco in his yard

The day before Christmas Eve, and in Riverside it is 72 degrees!

Bosco is enjoying the mild weather, hanging out in his yard, practicing his "Noble Hunter" expressions.

Yesterday, he weighed 11 pounds 14 ounces.

[Click on image to enlarge.]

Bosco Watches TV

Bosco has discovered television. Here he's relaxing at his Mum's feet watching the 1942 classic, Holiday Inn, starring Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Marjorie Reynolds, et al. He particularly likes musicals, especially those with lots of dancing and eye-catching motion. He has recently also watched White Christmas and Sound of Music with us.

Bosco is 7 Weeks Old

Bosco is seven weeks old today, and has now lived with us for one full week. Here he's shown in his favorite position, snoozing; in his favorite location, camped out in front of the "Chow Locker" - the cabinet in which his food is stored. This picture was taken some 15 minutes before his normal lunchtime. He's taking no chances missing that appointment. He brings new graphic illustration to the old Marine Corps expression, "Chow Hound."
[Click on image to enlarge.]

This morning, at his veterinary checkup, Bosco weighed 10 pounds 14 ounces. The vet pronounced his heart strong, and his teeth and bones sound.

New Toy in the Toy Box

The old reliable, great-little-camera-in-its-day, 2 megapixel Fujifilm FinePix 2600Z, didn't actually die - it just stopped being reliable. Its output looked almost (but not quite) like the flash and shutter were out of synch - one exposure with a ghost-like second image slightly offset from the first. Our working theory is that it is in the process of slowly succumbing to the moisture absorbed during the Maid of the Mist excursion to the base of Niagara Falls, in which everything on the weather deck was, naturally, soaked to a fair-thee-well. Although I kept it under my poncho when not in use, and carefully dried it out afterward, we think that the FinePix may have finally been infiltrated by slow-growing internal corrosion, well known to all Marines as "The Creeping Crud".

So it was time to get something
(a) reliable
(b) up-to-date
(c) affordable

The solution turned out to be the Lumix DMC-FZ5 (see review at FZ5). Various articles convinced me that 5 megapixels was entirely adequate for my needs, since I can't remember the last time I blew anything up to 16x20 inches (!). I don't even remember the last 8x10 I did! Economic reality convinced me that $350 (Circuit City after rebate) was about the right level of financial involvement.

Look closely at the first image [click on it for a larger view]. See the manufacturer's imprint on the lens? Leica! A Leica lens on a digital point-and-shoot? That's almost a deal-closer, right there.

On the left side of the lens barrel in the image, you can maybe just make out part of the label "12X Optical Zoom 35mm Equiv 36-432" 36-432 zoom? How many interchangeable leses do I need? (Digital zoom extends that 4x, not that I would ever use digital zoom.)

The little red logo beneath that says "Mega O.I.S." That's "Optical Image Stabilization" Image Stabilization on a point-and shoot?

A Leica 36-432 zoom with image stabilization grabbed me and wouldn't let go. This was The Camera (at least for me), perhaps one of the best kept secrets in photography today!

Watch the pictures we post from now on.

The Bosco Has Landed...

Bosco has moved in with us!

The breeder called this morning to tell us that the puppies had been examined by their veterinarian, and all pronounced fit to move in with their new families.

When we arrived at the Diehl home, after scrubbing with antibacterial soap at Lisa's insistence, we were allowed into the Puppy Presence. There was no way to choose. They were all perfect. If we had had last choice, instead of first, it would have been much easier!

Finally narrowing the candidates to two, we took Casper and Jekyll into the living room and played with them for awhile before finally settling on Casper. With the fitting of his new collar with the "Bosco" name tag, it became official.

The drive home from Hemet, in early evening rush hour traffic, took over an hour. Bosco slept practically the whole time, nestled in Marguerite's lap, rousing only occasionally to look around, grin, yawn, wag, and flop back down.

At home, he was introduced to his new back yard, family room, kitchen, and crate bed. He took to everything like it was his own. Here he is shown in his daytime lounging spot in the family room, which he has clearly taken over without a second thought.

He's sleeping a lot, which isn't surprising, since he has been on the go since early this morning with a visit to the vet's, people poking him, peeking at him, and playing with him all afternoon, a long car ride, and a whole new world to begin exploring. It has been an exhausting day for a six week-old Labrador!

O Christmas Tree...

Here it is: the 2005 edition of "the most beautiful Tree we've ever had." Of course, we say that every year, but this year, it's true (again - just like it has been every year).

Needless to say, Bosco will only be allowed in this room under strictest supervision!

[Click on image for larger view.]

One Month Old

Here's Lisa Diehl's picture of one of the litter at 31 days. [More pictures at Chocolate Labs,]

It may or may not be Bosco, but s/he is certainly representative of Spirit and Bronco's beautiful babies. Note the "speed bump" on top of the head. We used to say about Loki that God gave Labradors a Speed Bump to keep them from thinking too fast - we humans need an edge to keep the Labs from getting ahead of us. Even so, it's sometimes a near thing. [Click on picture for larger image.]

Updated Links

I've updated the links on the left sidebar, and will continue to do so periodically, usually without warning or notification unless it's something I particularly want to highlight.

Examination of the links will prove revealing regarding the kind of things that catch my fleeting attention.

Bosco's AKC Registration Name

First, a little background:

- American Kennel Club Registry names are limited to 30 characters, including spaces and punctuation.

- Bosco's Mum's name is Mystical Spirit Arrow; his Papa is Bronco's Royal Joust. Their names were chosen because of their human family's interest in medieval history.

- Their litter, which included the future Bosco, was born on Halloween.

In deciding on Bosco's full, formal AKC name, we want to continue the medieval naming tradition, while celebrating his Halloween birthday. Consequently, as a candidate AKC Registration Name, we propose:

Baron Bosco Trick-or-Treat

Remember that in British peerage, while the Baron is the lowest of the ranks of nobility, it was a group of rebellious barons who, in a.d. 1215 at Runnymede, forced King John to acceptance of the Magna Charta.

Anybody have any thoughts? You can leave your comments below, or by e-mail.

26 Days Old

Received new pix last night from Lisa Diehl.

I think the one on the right is saying, "Who you callin' 'dawg'?".

The one on the left is saying, "Now cool it, guys, there's no reason to get hostile."

For more pictures, go to Lisa's site at Chocolate Labs, or click her link in the left sidebar.

Marguerite's Decorations

While I have been watching football the past couple of days, here's what Marguerite has been doing.

[Click on each picture for larger view.]