Puppy's first "hike"

OK, grab a seat!  This is going to be a long one!  And if you don't like puppy pictures, well then never mind!  This ain't for you!

 Right now, we are staying at the Onondaga Cave State Park in Missouri.  Beautiful place - terrific, revamped campground, and awesome cave(s)!!  And some nice trails.  The other day I took the Zou on her first "hike," which consisted of a level, 1-mile roundtrip.  She did great, but she slept for most of the rest of the day!  Yay!  Mission accomplished!  Well, we don't really want to wipe her out THAT much, but close is good!   And she will be able to do more and more as she gets bigger and stronger.

 Here are what I consider to be previews of what Mizzou will look like soon - ears up!

 Different but still cute.  Just not as puppy-cute.

 A view from our Blue Heron Trail.

 Yeah, more close-ups.  Get used to it.

 Aaaaawwwwwwwwwwwww.

 A study in puppy.

 Look at those eyes...

 No, we're not smitten.  No, not us.

 A beautiful little spring along the way, other side of the trail.

 ooo, look at those brown, green, and yellow things floating in the water.  Wonder what they are...

 Are they alive?  Can you eat them?  Do they squeak?  

(Mizzou was pretty unfazed by being in the water.  But she also doesn't appear to be wowed by it either.  Once she'd checked out the stuff in it, she didn't have much further interest in the pond.  So, probably not much in the way of spaniel or retriever in her, I'd guess.  I think those breeds usually really love being in the water!).

 Still in the initial curiousity stage here.

 Hmm, this is kind of a big step!  Can't quite make it!  ugh!  struggle, struggle.

 Pretty place.  With giant nasty flying/biting bugs and starving mosquitoes!

 There she is again!  Is she chewing on her leash?  Hmm, could be.  It happens.

 Oh man.  Could YOU resist this?

 Mommy, could you please put me up on this bench too?  (yes, she's very polite that way)

 On the way back.  Getting tired.  

 Back by the pond one last time.

 Run puppy run!!!

 Go little girl!  See?  She's always faster on the way back, even if she's tired!

 Puppy play and frustration.  She doesn't want Mom to stop and take more photos!  She wants to GO HOME!  And take a nap in her secure, comfy, now familiar surroundings, thank you very much!

 Back at the beginning.

 So worn out, her tongue is sticking out far enough to show her black spot!  I used to think that a black spot indicated specific dog heritage (chow, sharpei, etc.), but I read on-line that there are 30 different breeds that can have black/spotted tongues!  But it does sound like our girl is probably partly a "spitz" type of dog:  

Samoyed, Siberian Husky, Malamute, Akita, Shiba Inu,  Pomeranian, Norwegian Elkhound, Keeshond, etc. They all share basic physical characteristics:  a similar body structure, over-the-back tail carriage, upright triangular ears, and a dense offstanding coat. 

Much is yet TBD, but she definitely has the over the back tail much of the time!

 And who showed up while we were hanging out (getting our picture taken in the grass and leaves...)?!  Daddy and Tractor!

 Won't be long before Little Zou is riding too!

And that's it...for now...!

Puppy, puppy, puppy!!!

 OK, so time to indulge Mama...  I was too frustrated and distracted by Ouray's puppyness all those years ago, and didn't take hardly any puppy photos - shame on me.  I so regret that.  I won't make that mistake again...

 Puppies don't stay puppies for forever.  For better and for worse, they grow up.  All too soon, that puppyhood we were complaining about is over and gone.

 Those silly, entertaining antics are no more.

 Curious exploration of all that is new is replaced with routine.

 Tippy ears pop up and are stick straight for all their remaining years.

 Time to be a puppy.

 And to enjoy all that that entails.

 Puppy's home inside of home.  We decided to do the crate thing this time (see Edd?  Just like Buddy's!).  I couldn't see leaving Mizzou to run the RV at night with her worminess (although that appears to be over with now, thank goodness!!).  It's also super handy when it's time to:  vacuum, do uninterrupted stretching exercises, or go somewhere dogs aren't welcome.

 Happy walkers!  Zou is so funny.  She LOVES her home, and that home is our RV.  So she's often very hesitant to leave it.  As you walk away with her, she'll keep stopping and looking back, if not trying to run back to it!  But on the way back, she'll be in the lead!  Sometimes at a run!  We're trying to walk her a lot and often, both for pottying purposes and for getting rid of all that excess hyper energy puppies are famous for!!  (it's also good for us!)

 Yes, it's love.

 My girl.

His girl 2.

The first day of the rest of her life...

Ms. Zou and siblings.  Here, she managed to worm (ha-ha...) her way to the top.  Usually she was under the dog pile!  As you can see, most of the pups either display a lot of genetic variation, or they had different pops!

 The lobby of this great little shelter in Mexico, MO.  Zou had great taste from the beginning, choosing this wonderful woman, Christi, who helped us throughout the process (although we were a little put out that Mizzou seemed to prefer Christi to us, but I'm sure that's both because Christi is such an awesome person and because she'd had more contact with the critters there).

 Bill, being won-over.

The deed is done.  We're taking her home!

 From Mexico to our RV...

 On our first potty stop.  You can see how stressed-out our girl is with life.  She just doesn't know how to kick back, relax, roll around,...!

A first meeting.  The Zou and The Scrat.  It's a beginning.  We're pretty sure how this will end - best friends - but we're not there yet...!