Kjempe, the puppy formerly known as Paintbrush, is having a pretty amazing life at his new home — Mariya sends us this report:
“Kjempe is really a wonderful creature. His puppy coat, except for a small bit of fuzz on top of the years, is coming in and I agree with Mary-Ann - it is very BLACK. His coloring is so bright. His coat is shiny, silky and wavy - he is a BEAUTIFUL dog. I love his asymmetry of white on the face because the whiskers on one side of his face are white and the other side black, which is neat. He has a few distinct beauty marks on his snout. As with the other litter mates, he is pretty much out of puppy teeth and his new teeth are pearly white. We ate a lot of ice cubes and found a plethora of different things to chew while the new teeth were coming in. We brush them several times a week with vanilla mint puppy toothpaste, that he surprisingly likes.
I've noticed that Kjempe loves to be outside, and true to the breed, watch over the place. Living now on 2.3 acres, the house is situated on a small hill in the middle of the property, and Kjempe will perch there as long as I let him, just watching the day go by. He is frequently visited by small birds and magpies, but they don't seem to mind each other. My office has surrounding windows so I can keep an eye on him while I'm working. He will play with his toys, chew on whatever new/interesting thing I give him, find a stick or long grass from the landscaping, and still LOVES the snow. I know now to continue with the pile alongside the driveway - it was the last to melt, and that is where he sat until it was gone, silly goof ha ha!
We completed puppy obedience class 1 a few weeks ago, which was really puppy obedience class 2 because all attendees came in with the basics down (which was great). Next we are moving into off-leash walking class and looking into canine good citizen programs.
Kjempe loves to go in the car anywhere - it's great that Fort Collins is so dog-friendly because he can go to many places with me. We live near Lory State Park and other surrounding areas for our daily pick of local hiking trials. Sometimes, we just like to stroll along the river. We receive many compliments about how well Kjempe behaves and listens while other people pass. The mountain bikers seem to be especially complimentary of how awesome he is. I'm happy to say that having a solid hiking companion has gotten me out hiking more, which was a part of the impetus behind getting Kjempe. We are even quiet enough to see wild turkeys and deer on our adventures.
He LOVES people and is overly excited to see new people - this is one area we are still working on and are taking a few classes in "polite greetings." It takes a while to get all of the wiggles and jumps out. Most people are kind and patient as we work through this stage.
Lately, I've been working on "back" and "side" which essentially is walking backwards or sideways. Back was a bit tricky, and we have just begun side, but the effort is well worth it. He is becoming an excellent box step dance partner ha ha! As for snuggle bug, I think Kjempe would like to snuggle a lot more, but he does get hot fast, so our time on the couch together lasts about 20 minutes max, and then he goes down to the cold hardwood or tile floor. I bought him a new elevated bed that he and his bestie, Gimli, seem to "fight" over.
A few weeks ago, Kjempe got to spend a week with Fischer, a gordon setter that my Ex and I had together. They had to relocate to Utah, so we do not see them often. Those two had such a fun time together and Kjempe was visibly sad when they left. We hope they come back to visit soon. Looking forward to the winter season. Kjempe will start to learn age appropriate harnessing and driving tactics for Skijoring because I love to x-country ski.”
What a FANTASTIC Life Kjempe is enjoying with his human bestie — thank you, Mariya, for the update and everything you do and are for Kjempe :)