Miro's Coming Home Day

Although Miro's birthday is at the end of January, his coming home day is March 29. A year ago he flew home with me from Ohio. A day later and he would have been too big to fit in the under-seat carrier.  He spent a good part of the flight sleeping in my lap and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to stuff him back in the carrier. He needed that baby pudge for growing tall and long-legged.

I didn't succeed in getting his ears up but I'm the only one who cares about that anyway. Notice he still has big "knuckles" and his feet turn out a bit like a puppy's. He also sports a soul patch--that very stylish lighter patch of fur at his chin.

The biggest change is that he's growing out of the puppy "Oh, wow" stage and into the "getting a brain" stage. For an Airedale's first year everything is New! Wow! Lemme-at-it! and he doesn't filter any of the sensory messages coming in. Now I see the adult brain starting to work. During the puppy stage, you put the tools of communication in place and the dog learns "sit," "come," and so on; but it takes a different stage for the dog to understand that he's not just learning words in exchange for treats. He understands there's two-way communication going on. It's not strict obedience; it's a way of working together. You can grow into it so gradually that you don't notice it happening.

Or it's all a pose to lull me into thinking he's maturing while he's actually planning more havoc. Or both, since an Airedale never outgrows havoc.