Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Raising Charley, Part III

If you follow my blog, dear reader, then you already are acquainted with our Charley, the Shepherd/Great Dane mix puppy, born last October.

Charley has grown to be a genuine snuggler, especially in the evening when the day of play is over.  He wants someone to sit next to or, preferably, on.

Unfortunately, Charley now weighs in excess of fifty pounds, so snuggling can be ... shall we say? ... problematic.  In fact, it could be detrimental to your health if he chooses to take a running leap onto your lap.

It's easy to forget that this medium sized dog, who is now taller and longer than our 7 year-old lab mutt, is only five months old.

Five. Months. (i.e. approximately 150 days).

As in ... still a baby because he hasn't been breathing oxygen for more than a half a year yet.

Fifty pounds at five months. And he wants to snuggle with us on the couch. Where he takes up the same amount of butt room as a full size human being.

Unless he is draped across several laps.

Which is heavy.

He was neutered a couple of weeks ago, and I am happy to report that some degree of calm has come upon him. He sleeps a bit more during the day and is not as quick to chew on everything as he used to be. He sleeps all night now. And he no longer clings by his teeth to my bathrobe in the morning as I get his food from the 50 lb. dog food sack (which sack gets us through, oh, about a month ... if we're lucky).

He is very definitely a Mama's Pup, sleeping as close to me as he can get all night long (he's on the floor, but woe betide us both if I don't check where my feet are going before I get out of bed, because Charley is Right There).

So, that's Charley at five months. It's hard to believe that he was this tiny once upon a time (at the age of four weeks):




Because now he looks like this this: 



- Catherine

3 comments:

Expats Again said...

He may be bigger, but that just means there's more of him to love. Enjoy him!

Unknown said...

Pete topped out at 70 pounds and I was never so glad to see a living thing stop growing. Why do we do this?

Nostalgic for the Pleistocene said...

He looks so German Shepherd ... but those Great Dane genes might do a nice job of supersizing him! Have fun! 8~)