Di went home for lunch today and sent me a text message that Linda was laying on her back with her legs waving in the air while Bernie was draped across her head gnawing on her. She has the patience of a saint with the little demon. Linda's left rear leg is his favorite chew toy, and we think he's doing his best to turn her into a tripawd. We had to separate them one night when we saw that his little needle puppy teeth had drawn blood - not that Linda noticed or cared. She’s usually having too much fun with him to notice the damage he causes.

We're gradually getting him housebroken, although that's a rough process. We'd forgotten how frustrating that can be. Both Max and his former buddy Shadow were 11 or 12 weeks old when we got them, so we've never had a dog this young. I'm pretty sure that nature made puppies irresistibly cute as a defense mechanism against the temptation to throttle them in response to the death and devastation they spread throughout the house. Di and I spend a lot of time reassuring ourselves that "He'll grow up soon," repeating it like a mantra. In his defense, though, he's a smart little booger. Very food and reward-motivated. We keep a baggie of Cheerios handy to use as training treats. It didn't take him long to learn some basic commands. Say "sit" and his little butt hits the ground fast, waiting for a treat. The same goes with "come," at least if you can get his attention long enough to say it. He'll come flying. Best of all is "down," which we just started a few days ago. He doesn't go down gracefully; it's more of a pounce on your hand as you point to the ground, trying to get the Cheerio. But he does end up in the "down" position, which isn't bad for an 11-week old. And Linda likes joining in the training sessions too, mostly so she can mooch treats. Kinda scary, but Bernie usually does better than she does.

And yes, we have every intention of bringing Bernie and Linda up for another Mill Valley Tripawd party. We love going to Carmel, and we'll probably do it two or three times a year from now on. Our original plan was to go back up there for our anniversary in late May, but we'll have to see how the little monster's training goes. We stay at the Cypress Inn in Carmel, so we have to make sure he's housebroken and at least trained in the basics before we risk inflicting him on the general public. But if we don't make it in May, we'll be there within a month or two after that. We plan on heading up as soon as he's reasonably civilized - or as soon as I can find an adequate supply of tranquilizer darts.