happy anniversary!

Today is Teo's first Year anniversary of being our family doggie!

One year ago today we brought home our canine compadre from the Denver Dumb Friends League.

Then, he was so skinny! you can see his poor little spine sticking up in that picture above. He weighed in at 38 lbs at the vet, was curious but quiet, and didn't know a rubber ball from a decorative feature. His bark was so quiet and rare that we wondered if he'd had his vocal chords removed. His tail, as you can see in the picture, was long but never terribly curly. He refused to crawl into the up to 50 lb dog size kennel, in spite of me (L) climbing in there to entice him, and treats, toys, cuddling.... instead he lived for months in a 80 lb dog size kennel.


Now...
He is well adjusted to family life. He weighs just over 50 lbs, most of which is lean muscle. His tail curls even when he is in trouble, or sleeping. He vigorously defends our home, expresses his opinion, and terrorizes squirrels, rabbits, and cats with his deep woof and knows how to find his BALL, his SQUEAK toy, his STICK, and his TOY (all other instruments of fun). He loves his smaller kennel.
And we love him! His personality is so fun, forgiving, and loving. His worst qualities are a propensity for excited jumping on you, and eating through soft and hard toys when left to his own devices. Some may argue they also don't like his licking habits, but I happen to love doggie kisses (so eww all you want, he probably won't stop .... because .. well, I encourage it). If all adopt-a-dogs were like him, I'd do it again and again and again! We love you, Teo and are so glad you are with us!
ps. we have also decided against DNA testing for now, and instead are opting to wait until they are more accurate. Since we have his personality pretty well figured out and just want to know out of curiosity, we decided it can wait.