easter 2008 with payton

a number of our friends & family members have been asking about payton. how's he doing with the cats, how big is he now, how far can he run, etc. given that he'll be 8 months old on august 5th (just two weeks away) & kristin took this great picture of him this easter morning (minus the girlie flower on his collar) i thought it a good time to post an update about him.

each day with payton just gets better. kristin is so amazing with him - those dog whisperer DVDs really helped :) payton is now weighing 70+ pounds & can easily run 4 miles. the vet recommends we keep him under 4 miles until he's a year old so while he got the stength we'll have to hold him back for 4 months more. payton & the cats (bevo & cubbie) while not best friends for sure, they do get along better than before. bevo stands up to him every now & then & cubbie just runs around the house like a soldier running for his life & as long as payton never gets a view of him all is good.

payton has some new friends now too. a couple of weeks ago kristin set him up for a play date with cisco (a yellow lab) down the street & he & cisco enjoyed a 1/2 day running around in cisco's back yard. cisco's owner said that the two of them playing looked like a mix between a bad porn video & a wrestling match. payton has yet to be "fixed" & is all to happy to be a bit to friendly with anything with four legs. payton also plays with charlie (another yellow lab in the neighborhood) at the dog park at the end of the street. just yesterday payton met royal who will soon be one of his best friends. royal (a vizsla) belongs to our friends greg & katie who will be hosting payton at their house for the weekend while kristin & i are in san diego. to ensure payton & royal get along well we introduced the two dogs at bull creek yesterday. royal showed payton the ropes & taught him a thing or two about bull creek & swimming. actually dad had to help with the swimming - it took a little push but once in the water payton swam like a champ :)

so payton is doing well. i think we enjoy him more than he enjoys us, although he's quickly becoming a momma's boy. he still greets dad at the door when i come home, but he's definitely more loving towards his momma.