Okay, okay, so I’m starting to like Zeeke… just a little bit. Okay, maybe more than a little bit.

It really stuns me that you would find a dog like this at a shelter. How could anyone give up a dog as sweet as this? He loves people - he’ll bark now and then, but usually with his tail wagging furiously. He sleeps wherever in the house, but if one of us gets up to go to a different room, his head will inevitably pop around the corner to see what’s going on. He knows sit, and he’s already learning “drop it”, though I still have to catch his collar before he’ll listen to that one. ^_~ He’s fully housetrained.

Tonight he was a bit restless as I was watching tv, and he climbed up on the couch beside me. His head rests on the back of the chair when he’s laying down, lol. So I petted him for a while, spoke to him. He got up after moving around a bit, so I moved to the floor and got him to lay down for me so I could brush him. He seemed to enjoy that. =)

They weighed him at the vet’s today: 78.8lbs. Heh. That’s nearly double Oreo’s weight.

I think what’s affecting me most is that firstly he’s calmed down and isn’t always all bubbly, so I get to sit quietly with him sometimes. And secondly, I’m starting to see some personality emerge. At first he was just a very big dog. Friendly, but suddenly there’s this big adult dog in the house. It’s a little off-putting. But now I’m getting used to him, getting to know him. I know that he doesn’t like his tail being touched, and that if you’re petting him he’ll put his big huge paw on your arm. I know that he likes some of his toys, but not enough to keep him occupied for very long. I know he’s not very food-motivated - curiosity-motivated, maybe, as in, “What’s in the package?? What do you have there?? Lemme see, lemme see!” And then I give him his special bone and he says, “Oh,” and drops it. *LOL* I can’t believe there are still bits of his bone on the living room floor and he hasn’t eaten them yet. -.- Oreo would have licked the floor squeaky clean in about ten seconds. And he has this very personality-filled stare he gives me when he’s eating a bone or chewing on a toy. It’s kind of funny, just the look he gives me, like he’s sizing me up, waiting to see what I’ll do. I just crack up every time, there is so much going on behind those big brown eyes.

I’m starting to think hardwood floors aren’t the best choice for a dog-filled family. Poor Zeeke is still sliding all over the place. We took up the hall runner the first day because every time he hit it it all ended up in a pile in the corner anyways. The living room throw has to be put back into place every half hour or so. We really need to get some carpets with underpadding so it won’t slide. But Zeeke’s getting used to it - he jumps down off the couch and bed much more cautiously now, and doesn’t quite run through the house anymore unless he’s really excited.

Oh, but he still needs a bath.