Welcome to the family

We are proud to annouce the addition of "Chinook" to the family. He's a 4-month old, 30 lb., mostly chocolate (let's call him dark chocolate) lab. All you Calgarians will recognize his name but you might also be interested to know that the word "sheenok" in Russian means "puppy". A perfect fit!

We got him at the puppy market in Almaty today. We went with the intention of looking for one to adopt after the holidays. Something we could put "on hold" and pick up when we get back. We found this guy (among MANY cute labs out there - tough decision) and the breeder offered to let us take him for this week and then they would keep him again for the two weeks we'll be gone over Christmas. Everyone was very excited about this prospect. Except maybe poor Snuggles who is a bit overwhelmed and does not know how to put a puppy in his place so instead endures the jumping and biting and licking. Here's the happy crew:

After a long afternoon of romping around outside and inside and running up and down the stairs and playing with toys and going for a walk and being led from room to room, Chinook finally passed out. (Too early for my liking - I have no doubt he'll be up in the middle of the night.)

No one was happier than Snuggles that he was finally calm. Snuggles missed his afternoon napping time and was happy for some peace and quiet for a little while.

Chinook had only one accident in the house today but the girls took him out about every 15 minutes so he wasn't given much chance to mess up. He already knows the sit command but only if you say it in Russian and give his rear a little nudge. We'll have to work on his English language skills! Much work to do after Christmas.

PS Kazakhstan seems to have lifted it's Blogger ban - at least temporarily. Maybe someone hacked in and made it available. Hoping it stays this way!