It's been pretty busy for me for the past few months.  My legs are super long now and I love to jump whenever I get the chance! I look mostly like a hound dog in  my body shape.

We were going to puppy class and  Fundogmentals (beginning agility) and I thought those were a lot of fun.  It was hard for me to focus on what I was supposed to be doing with all the other dogs around.  This summer was super hot and my human gets cranky in the heat, so we took the summer off from class.

We're still working at Paws at the Corner and some of my dog friends come in to play with me. There are lots of two-legged friends that come in too.  There's still a lot of explaining what kind of dog I am and why my name is Steve.  In my opinion,  humans care too much about that sort of thing.

In new news at our house, we now have three ducklings in addition to our chickens. I'm very curious about the ducks and I'd like to sniff them but I'm not allowed.  When I was little I tried to sniff a chicken and they pecked me, so I now sniff where they've been  instead of where they are.  It's almost as good, I think.  The ducklings are spending a lot of time in the baby pool that's been set up for them and their mama chicken doesn't know what to make of it.  I like to stand on the picnic table and watch them preen when I'm outside. They're only three weeks old and almost as tall as their mama!

The human peeps are back in school.  Since the boys have soccer I don't get to see them as much and when they finally get home after a game they have homework to do. When they get home I have a lot to tell them about my day and they keep telling me to be quiet.  Sometimes I get a little too excited, at least that's what I'm told.

It's a dog's life

I keep hearing the saying "it's a dog's life" and I'm not sure I like it. I've noticed people say it when I'm napping, as if I haven't done anything all day! Take today for instance. Once the kids were at school, I got out of my crate with my duck and played "chase me, chase me" with my companion (she's kind of slow so I take it easy on her). Then I chewed on my bone for a while, found the antler I lost for a week or so, moshed the cat a bit and took a little nap. All of a sudden, I felt like I was being stared at and I woke up to my companion pointing something at me that made a clicking noise. I kept shifting to get more comfortable and I hoped she would go away. It took a while but she finally did. I have no idea what that was all about.

 




 Yesterday was a pretty hard day for me. I'm trying to get the hang of asking to go outdoors to go to the bathroom, but sometimes it's hard to remember. I'll start playing with another dog that comes into the store, or I'll wake up from a nap and start doing something and then all of a sudden it hits me! I have to pee like a horse! There's this thing with bells going on at my house and also at Paws on the Corner. Someone will tell me we're going outside to go potty and ring the bells. Then we go out and I pee. A couple of times, I've remembered to ring the bells myself to let them know. Other times, not so much. I had quite a few accidents yesterday and the humans in my life aren't so happy about it.

This morning, Lisa (the owner of Paws at the Corner and Izzie and Aspen) and my owner took us for a walk. I got to ride in an elevator! It was kinda scary and I got some treats for doing it. Then we waited outside Weaver Street while they went in and got coffee. There were treats after that too! When we got back to the store I was exhausted and napped for about two hours. After my nap I played with Izzie, met a sweet puppy named Bella (she was only three months old and she had very nice ears), and took another nap. I really like curling up with Izzie. She's very sweet and soft and warm.

 



 Tonight Mac is staying overnight with us. I like him, but I don't think it's fair that he gets to sleep on the bed and I'm in my crate. I really like the bed, it's warm under the covers, where I like to be, and I sleep so much better there. My human says it should be an incentive to potty training, but as I already mentioned I'm still kind of confused by that.

 

 Mac likes to chase our cat Tiger-Cato (and I do too), but for some reason Mac actually wants to attack the cat and I just like to play with him. Tiger-Cato used to be bigger than me and when he would jump on me it would knock me down, but that doesn't happen much anymore. I wish he would chase me, but he likes to hide and jump out at me with his teeth and claws. For some reason, the world works differently for the cat. He gets dehydrated lamb lung just like me and he doesn't have to sit or anything. Sometimes he's even sitting on the table when he gets it! If I even so much as put my front paws on the table my family yells, "OFF!" at me.

 

 I heard Lisa and my human talking and I think there will be another walk tomorrow. I hope it's somewhere fun!

This blog is going to be about all things dog.  I think humans have too much of a presence on the interwebs. My guardian is going to type for me since I'm all pads when it comes to writing.  She promises not to put words in my mouth and let me say what I want.

My name is Steve Merle and I'm 19 weeks old - approximately, I'm not really into calendars and I don't have a memory that goes that far back.  Humans seem to think I'm unusual looking and make a big deal about my coat.

My mom is a Walker Hound and my dad is an Australian Shepherd.  You  might be curious what that mix looks like and, just so you know, I was the only one like me in the litter.  Four of my siblings were black with white feet and looked like hounds, the other three had the fur, coloring, and build of the shepherds.  And then there's me!  I have the coat and build of a hound, with the recessive blue merle marking.  This is me on the ride to my new home with my human family. I am only about ten weeks old in that picture.  Aren't I cute? Yes, I do have striking eyes.  The right eye is blue and the other is half blue and half brown.


I have TONS of energy, especially first thing in the morning!  I like to take things from my humans and hide them.  Shoes and socks are my favorites!  They keep trying to hide them from me, but I'm sneaky and wait for any opportunity.

Soon I'm going to start a Puppy Relationship building class.  I'm not sure exactly why, I go to work with my main human to Paws at the Corner and play with my best friends Izzie and Aspen.  We like to chill on the sofa by the window together.


I get along well with dogs and people,  but sometimes I get nervous.  Everybody seems to like my name.  I guess Steve is unusual for a dog.  My owner likes Steve Earle and since I'm a blue merle she thought Steve Merle would be cool.  Bowen, one of my boys, thinks I should be named for Stevie Ray Vaughan.  I hear children don't always have the last word on these matters.