Now that we have all the vaccinations we have been going for longer walks with Mano and to new places aswell. To my amazement he has been like a little angel on the leash, well maybe all those millions of times we have stopped when he has started to pull are finally paying off??! Only problem seems to be that he thinks that everybody else on the roads are walking there only because they want to meet him, so passing other people and dogs still requires practise. Well maybe better that he is a bit too friendly than timid or afraid! Talking about practise...meatballs have turned out to be an excellent way of rewarding our picky eater, for them he would do anything, now command stay works in both sit and down positions! :) 

Last tuesday Mano went to a dog park for the first time as we were invited to join a dachshund date. Mano has been around a lot of other dogs so it wasn't such a new thing to him he was just happy to meet so many of them at the same time. He was running around and making sure that everybody there got to pet him and that he had sniffed every dog insight, but the best playing buddy in the end turned out to be beagle Tellu who was just the same size as Mano and as energetic as him, they also seemed to share a common love towards sticks! :)

Yesterday we had a get together with cake to celebrate Zanza's birthday and Mano got to spend some time with his two favourite little people!

Weight: 14,2 kg

Height (Standing on back legs): ~90cm

Today we went to get the last of Mano's vaccinations and as we had suspected the vet also found a mild ear infection in both of his ears. So now we are putting drops in them twice a day for a week, which is not as easy a task as it might sound like.

I must say that we were kind of hoping for a another vet than we had the first time but as we got there there was the same silent lady waiting for us. She didn't say a word to Mano or even touch him but went straight to business and started sticking needles into his neck and back... well Mano got scared of this kind of groping and pinching althoug at first he was sitting at the table and just waiting like a good boy.  Maybe he wouldn't have been trying to escape from the table if she had atleast petted or talked to him before the cruel needle business!

Today's weight: 13.5 kg

Today's height: 41 cm

We spent this weekend at a cottage in Taivalkoski. The trip time table included some hiking, eating, sauna, swimming and a lot of relaxing. We were a bit worried about Mano at the cottage 'cause of the extremely steep stairs in front of the cottage but after a few practice runs he was going up and down the stairs like he was born to do it, a bit too fast to our liking as well! Well I don't think that Mano took many steps in slow motion at the cottage as he was flying around it most of the time!

On saturday we went for a little hike with Mano and the intention was to walk a bit over five kilometres depending on how Mano could cope with it. We walked 2,6 kilometres to a laavu and on the way we got scared as Mano decided (on the wettest part of the swamp) to jump off from the causeway but we fished him up before he sank too deeply. I think he got more scared of my reaction than the water itself.

After a half an hour power nap and few pieces of sausages at the laavu the boy was ready for action again! The rest of the way Mano was running ahead of us and stopped to wait for us so for sure wasn't feeling tired. He still had plenty of energy left to taste some reindeer droppings and run around in muddy water puddles. But to our amazement by the time we got to the cottage he had transformed from black to red and white again, I guess it is true what they say about welsh's coat, that you can take a welsh straight from the forrest to a show ring.

As we were fishing at the cottage Mano managed to fall twice from the dock and instead of swimming he was hanging from it with his front paws and slowly etching his way towards the shore. After this he kept on the shore and kept putting his head into the water and blowing bubbles in it and getting angry to the water. He did actually swim twice with a little bit of assistance to put him into the water and did seem to like it.

At the cottage Mano was too excited to sleep during the days so since we came home that's the only thing he has done. Great trip over all and we can't wait for the next one!

Mano met up again with his favourite Boxer Remu. In the beginning they were both more interested in collecting all the sticks they could find but in the end Mano was hanging from Remus cheeks and they both were loving it! :)

Remu has such an excellent character and is so gentle with Mano. We are more than happy that Mano can spend time with such a nice grown up male and (hopefully)  be influenced by Remus behaviour aswell!

Yesterday we took Mano to play with his friend Sisu. The boys where running and playing non-stop for more than an hour and the only time they calmed down was for quick drink and pee breaks. I just wonder where all that energy comes from? Well the rest of the night Mano was just sleeping!

In these few last weeks Mano seems to have grown a lot. At the moment he weighs 10,5 kg and is a BIG boy already. All legs and ears! :) I think the only one who hasn't realised his growth is Mano himself. On monday we went to Ikea and bought a new coffee table for the living room. With Mano's eager assistance (to eat all available bits and pieces) we put it together but to his amazement this coffee table had something that the older one didn't: a shelf underneath the table. Mano has gotten used to running under the table when playing but now suddenly he couldn't, he did persist on trying for quite some time but in the end got stuck in a position where his front legs where on top of the self while the rest of the body was hanging out.

We also bought a kids soft toy, "Octopuss" for Mano which was a huge success and he didn't let the toy out of his sight for hours. After few hours the Octopus already had to under go several surgical operations to patch him up after Mano's tender loving.

Finally we found the time to start Mano's blog, so here it is. Mano is today 13 weeks old and growing every second. He seems to be all legs and is slowly starting to look like a Welsh Springer Spaniel.

During this 13 weeks Mano has charmed all of our neighbours and seems to think that everybody around Puolivälinkangas is there just waiting to get to know him. Our neighbourhood has also been systematically cleaned of all the rubbish, chewing gums and all kinds of sticks that despite our strict supervision somehow magically find their way into Mano's mouth.

Yesterday we went to the beach as Mano loves running in the sand and most of all eating and digging it. We threw few sticks for him to fetch and wanted to see if this time he would actually fetch from the water. This time he went all the way to the shore with blinding speed but as soon as his paws touched the water he seemed to remember where he was and braked! There he was looking at the stick and us wondering why it was there and why we weren't getting it for him!

Well the water was freezing so can't really blame him... maybe next summer?