Okay, so I've been pretty awful about updating my journal. It's been a strange and unsettling week in many ways--most of which I have no desire to go into here. And of course I've also been putting off rolling the journal over to the new month, because I've been feeling very unmotivated and lazy and have not wanted to sit down and spend the hour or so it would take to get the new graphics set up and the pages realigned etc.

Unmotivated is a good way to describe my life lately. Writing? Hmm. None. Dunno why. I can't blame it on the dog--though he is a marvelous time sink--since I was pretty unmotivated before I got him. Too many other silly things occupying my head I guess. Again, don't wanna talk about the big ones here.

Zeus is doing quite well. He's been scratching at his ears a lot, so I got one of the dog boys to recommend a vet for me. He gave me the name of the vet that the Slidell PD takes their K9s to. Good recommendation. I liked the vet very much; he had a nice easy manner with Zeus, and Zeus was remarkably well-behaved the entire time. Good Boy!

And he continues to learn quickly. Sometimes I have to forcibly remind myself that I've only had this dog for less than three weeks. I can't wait to see how he is 6 months from now.

I bought him a Kong chew toy--supposed to be the toughest chew toys that exist. $10. He destroyed it in 45 minutes. So after he was so good at the vet, I went and got the Ultra King Kong dog chew toy. Huge tough piece of black rubber. The thing must weigh about 5 pounds. $20. He adores it and so far has not destroyed it, though I take it away from him on a regular basis so he doesn't get as much of a chance to destroy it. It's been a terrific training tool. That and a yellow tennis ball too. There's little he won't do to get the tennis ball. But those I can't let him play with for long at all, since he can rip one of those to shreds in about ten minutes. I am so thankful that he doesn't chew on anything else in the house. Anyway, yesterday we played a game with the Kong. (Yes, I know... it sounds like a marital aid.) I went into the living room and held the Kong up and told him to lie Down. Then, after he was down, I carried the Kong through the kitchen, through the dining room, and into my office--out of his sight. He'd wait in the Down position until I yelled Come, then would come tearing through the house and into the office to get the Kong. He enjoyed that game tremendously. I probably shouldn't tell him that it was part of his training.

And according to the scale at the vet, he's up to 81 pounds.