A Bolt Update

I realized the other day that I did a post about Bolt back when we first got him, but haven't done one since :(  I'm a bad doggy mommy!

When we picked Bolt up, he was 1 year and 2 weeks old.  Now he is 1 year and 8 months old.  I can't believe he's been in our lives for 8 months, but I also can't imagine life without this guy.    Since we've had Bolt for 8 months, and because I love nothing better than a good list, here are 8 things about our little guy.

1.  Bolt LOVES the snow.  It's the cutest thing ever!  He goes outside and hops through the snow and eats it and shoves his head into it, and just has a ball!  He probably would have spent hours playing at the dog park if I would have let him.  He would also go into our back yard and just lay down in the snow for as long as I'd let him. 

2.  When we adopted him all we were told is that he's a shepherd mix.  He's definitely too small and his hair is a bit short for him to be German Shepherd.  After doing some research we think he is Australian Shepherd.  I tried to get a close up of his muzzle but it's not going to happen, but if I were able to you'd be able to see the markings that are characteristic of Australian Shepherds.  We also believe he has some Husky in him.  His hair is much thicker and longer than it looks in pictures, and he talks.  We all know the videos of the huskies "talking back" to their parents.  I was watching one of these one day and Bolt started doing the same thing!  He also does it when he wants attention.  We're planning to eventually get one of those DNA tests done on him to see if we're right, mostly because we're curious. 

3.  Bolt LOVES other dogs.  He cries if he can't get to them, and he practically rips my arm off if he see's them when we're out walking.  The dog park is his favorite place and he makes friends with just about every dog.   We even picked a new boarding place that would allow him to play with the doggy day care dogs instead of going out by himself.   His best friends name is Buddy and we're super sad that buddy is leaving soon.

4.  He is a super picky eater!  Any other dog that I've ever had would basically inhale their food as soon as it was in their bowl, and would eat whatever food dropped on the floor.  Not this guy!  He wont eat his breakfast without an egg and eats his dinner when he feels like it.   I've tried feeding him foods I know are OK for dogs, such as carrots and apples, and he wont eat them.  He'll eat a banana if I mix it with PB and put it in his Kong but wont eat it plain.  He does love his pigskin rolls and dentastix, so that's something.   I've never in my life met such a picky dog.  I even asked the vet if his teeth were OK because he doesn't seem to like dry food too much, but his teeth are fine.

5.  His favorite game is "chase".  We can literally run around the kitchen table for 20 minutes and he is super happy about it.  I, on the other hand, end up getting dizzy and end the game.  He will then come over with whatever toy he had and sit in front of me and stare until I decide to play again.  His second favorite game is "tug-tug", which usually turns into "chase" after a while.

6.  He is super high energy!  We go on two walks per day (or trips to the dog park) and play chase several times per day, as well as working on his training ... and he still has energy after all of that!  My friend always sends pictures of Buddy passed out after him and Bolt have a play date, but Bolt still wants to play.  I call him my little energizer bunny!

7.  He is a cuddle bug - so much so that my nickname for him is Bug.  He loves to be scratched in his "arm pits", and then turn around and literally sit in my lap, then he'll lay down across me and cuddle.   He also likes to cuddle up in my bed with the covers.  He always arranges them in a certain way and it's so cute.   If you are on the ground or in the bed, that boy is cuddling with you whether you like it or not.

8.  He is a super smart boy.  He catches on to commands in no time and definitely outsmarts me sometimes.  He's doing really well with his new training program and catches on to everything really quickly ... we're still working on pulling when we're on walks, but hopefully he catches on to that soon, too.