Boomer Update 01/2008

Boomer Ima Ham celebrated his 1st birthday on December 21st. If I remember correctly, at the end of January, we will have had him for a year. Hard to believe!

As you can see from the photos & video, he has grown quite a bit. Boomer eats 45 pounds of dog food each month and is still eager to receive a treat for every good deed (which doesn't happen often enough).

One thing is certain, Boomer loves the snow! He is an entirely different dog in the winter. Yeah, he still enjoys playing in the spring, summer, and fall, but winter is where he shines. Some of his favorite activities include running with wreckless abandon, pouncing on his Ikea dog food bowl (that survived maybe 1 whole day), chasing after sticks and old tennis balls, and eating as much snow as he possibly can. We were keeping Boomer in the (fenced in) backyard this summer and fall for much of the day, but we had to restrict him to supervised visits when he masterminded a couple of escapes. We're hoping to repair and reinforce the fence this spring, so Boomer can once again experience unfettered outdoor living.

For now, we've decided not to get Boomer "fixed." We would like to breed him in the future, but we don't have a clue how to do so. So we'll see what happens.

Oh yeah, most importantly, Boomer & Edith interact quite well. Edith loves her puppy (I think I can still call him a puppy.), lighting up each time she sees him. We've been teaching her how to pet Boomer, as she just grabs a handful of fur, jowel, eyeball, or anything she finds right now. Boomer is really patient and doesn't react poorly to this. He needs constant reminding not to lick Edith or stick his face (wet nose) in Edith's face. We can definitely tell that he is jealous of the attention Edith receives from us, but he's going to have to learn to live with that.

Well, we've learned a lot of valuable lessons since we've had Boomer (too many to list here). We enjoy his companionship and spirit (for the most part) and look forward to his maturation into adulthood.