Bonne St-Jean 2012!

A year and a day ago, on June 23rd, we had the great fortune of adding a sweet little guy to our small family. We picked up Max after work on a Thursday, before the eve of Mid Summer, which is really big in Sweden. To me, that was the eve of St-Jean, Québec's national day.

A year later and we're still over the hill in love with our (less) little guy. You might remember last year's picture of a sweet tiny fluffy puppy with a headband and 2 wobbly flags. It barely fit around his torso at the time.

Well, it's been exactly 12 months since that day and St-Jean is again at our doorstep. Max is now almost 14 months old and has grown into a gorgeous puppy. Yes, puppy. He'll always be my puppy!

The headband really fits on his head now, although he had to be convinced to keep it on with the promise of a few meatballs... *coughs*

White, Fluffy and Chilly Make Max a Crazy Puppy

What better time than spring to bring up pictures about a dog's love for snow.
It was to be expected. After all, he's got some Canadian blood in him somewhere!

It seems there is nothing more fun for Max than a snowball. Think about it for a moment, from his perspective...

It's a ball that his human can throw at him.
That he can eat.
That he can also drink at the same time.

What more can a puppy ask for? Oh yes... meatballs! Well, you still cannot drink them mind you.

Don't I look good with white?

I'm ready to start! Let's go go go!

A little to the left...

A little to the right...

Uh oh, TOO CLOSE! TOO CL...

Woohoo! I got it!

Look at me, I'm getting better at this stuff!

*yawns and stretches* A well deserved rest after such a tedious playtime.

Happy New Woofy Year!

Happy New Year 2012!

What better way to begin than by posting old pictures from 2011!

First of all, can someone tell me how much is that dog in the window?

Woof woof! Max staring at me at work.

Also, I've recently gotten a new protection thingie for my computer at work. It's been working pretty well so far.

No virus is going to get in there! No cat either.

 Max is a bit particular. You know how people usually loves to sunbath? We take our long chairs, drag them into the open where the sun is shining warm and bright. We might bring a book, a nice drink or simply choose to close our eyes and drift off while enjoying the nice weather...
Max does it during the autumn, under the cloudy sky, on the bare chair. Silly doggy.

Maybe it's time I turn around so I get an even tan?

Sometimes, he does get tired of cloud-bathing, mostly when he's playing with his cousin Ludde. Let the right ones in? (Låt "de" rätta komma in?).

Let us in! Pleeeeaaasseee! We won't wreck havoc in the house... again... Well, for 5 minutes at least.

He loves to be around us, sleeping at our feet at work and at home, following us around as we do the stuff we do, even when that implies building Ikea furniture.

Ok, so I stay here and you follow my instructions.

I give this the Max' seal of approval. Woof!

We can sleep soudnly with Max in the house. He even keeps the Christmas tree and all teh gifts safe from burglars (or curious people trying to get a sneak peak at their presents a bit too early).

Merry Woofmas!

Hallo-Woof!

Halloween is traditional in Canada and I think it ranks pretty high, if not at the top, of my favourite holidays. I have been tryingto have a little bit of Halloween in Sweden, either by throwing a party or baking creepy (but yummy) things for my coworkers. This year, I had a puppy (uh oh) and, given his Canadian roots, I had no other choice but to make him participate in this great tradition.

I thought a long time about what kind of costume would be best for Max. I saw some amazing ones on the net, but 1) My sewing skills are rather... poor. 2) I did not want to invest lots of money to buy one. Beside, I think it is a lot more fun to make your own costume (and might often look better).

Much googling later, I got an idea.

Behold. Here comes Spider Dog!
"Spider Dog, Spider Dog! Does whatever a Spider Dog do"

"Can he catch, an orange ball? Yes he can, 'cause he's a dog"

"Can he lie down, lazily? Yes he can, 'cause he's a dog"

"Can he swing, on a web. No he can't, 'cause he's a dog. But he'll beg for food stand watch when the evil spider has lunch."

Family Reunion

At the beginning of October, we were invited to a puppy meeting by the owner of Canagold. We were very eager to meet Max' siblings as well as see how they would interact with each other.

It was a very fun afternoon and I think everyone had a great time. I do wonder if the humans or the dogs had the bigger blast.

The actors:

• Saga (the mommy), Tanya (an auntie, I think, as she has the same father as Saga), Tazza (half sister as they share the same mother). You can read about these lovely dogs here.
• Max, Nova, Yatzie, Teia, Tindra, Stella (Max and his sisters. Samos, the other male puppy, was the only missing one). About 5.5 months old.
• Nikki and her daughter Luna, golden retrievers.
• Minnah, Belgian shepherd/Malinois puppy, about 3.5 months old.
• Oh yes, the owners of all these fine dogs and puppies.

Max was a little wary at first, as he usually tends to be. However, it did not last long and soon enough, he was running around and playing with his siblings and the other canine guests.

He happened to be the only male dog during that day, and he got chased around quite a bit.

The puppies are patiently waiting in line for the privilege of being petted.

Max is doing his funny face to make his siblings laugh.

She looks funny!

Max yielding to his sisters.

The puppy house, June 4th 2011

The puppy house, October 10th, 2011 

Niclas thinks he can be a flock leader. Minnah seems to be about to prove him wrong.

Max and Nova sharing a stick. Cute siblings.

Teia, Tindra, Nova, Yatzie, Stella, Max and mommy Saga.

Fluffy White Trail of Destruction

What happens when a puppy finds out the whreabouts of your emergency toilet paper rolls?

A fluffy white trail of destruction.

The trail coming from the bathroom all the way to the den of a certain puppy.

The poor victim, found crippled in the den of the culprit.

The culprit showing absolutely no remorse at all and having another go at the mangled roll.

Happy Birthday Max - 4 months

Today is Max's birthday. Well, sortish. He turns 4 months, so it's a quarter of a birthday!

What has mister Le Woof been up to lately? Well....

1. Eating dirt from my potted plant. Tsk tsk
2. Playing with his new tunnel from IKEA (he won't admit it, but he was terrified of the thing at first, now he seems to find any excuse to run through it).
3. Trying to dig the wooden floor at work to hide his bones. It's actually very adorable. He will start whimpering with the bone in his mouth, then walk around a bit, start clawing the floor, then put the bone there and pretend it's well hidden.
4. Hiding his bone between the cushions on the couch. I found it out the hard way when I tried laying on said couch and my side met with something solid and rather uncomfortable.
5. Niclas has been showing him to seek. He hides the ball and then asks him to get the ball. It works! It's so amazing. Of course, it doesn't work all the time, but gosh this is fun and I find it great that he understands the concept.
6. He's a climber. At work, if left alone, he'll find a way to get on my desk and wander around the place. I had to wash my water glass a few times and throw some almonds that were innocently laying by my keyboard. Oh yes, I've also learned to push my chair all the way in when I leave, although it doesn't always deter him. It's a good thing I can increase the height of my desk with a simple button.
7. He loves to jump... down high places that make me go "You crazy dog, you'll break your bones! Arrrrg NOOOO!"

So, enough with words and let's see some pictures!

Max likes to jump.

How much is that dog, in the car window? Woof woof!

Typical day at work for Max.

He's my little handsome gentlemandog

My Little Helper

I think the key of getting me to post is actually making shorter posts, so this one is about my little helper.

A new house means more space. Tons of space compared to our apartment, which was still nice mind you. This house has lots of rooms and as Niclas got his garage, I wrestled away one room for my crafting. I have been slowly furnishing it and making it a nice a place to do lots of crap fun projects.
This first picture is from July 25th, so bear in mind that my little helper has been growing since then, despite my most vocal objections.

I'm a genius! There's no way her chair will roll over my fur over here!

The next picture is from a little over a week ago, when I finally and proudly finished my TARDIS table for my sewing corner. He just followed me around as I carried it from the garage then plumped himself right under it while I decided to do a quick photo shoot with my phone (it was late in the evening, so the light was bad, hence the poor quality).

For those who are not familiar with the TARDIS, it stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space and it is the space/time ship of the Doctor in the British TV series Doctor Who. Its chameleon circuits are stuck so it also looks like a Police Box.

Given that this is technically the door, I suppose Max is inside the TARDIS.

Tonight, as I tested out my sewing machine on a project I had been postponing for months, I had my Little Helper keeping my left foot warm as he showed his encouragement with his cheerful snoring.

Random Things and Lots of Pictures

Two weeks have gone by, more or less, and not much has happened except a puppy that is refusing to heed my order to stop growing.
When he sits and looks at me, I can't help but think of him as a handsome little gentleman. He looks really adorable with his white paws and white snout.

Last week, we took him to the vet for his vaccin. He did not even notice what was going on. However, when the nice assistant came to help out with the claws... well, you might recall how horrible I felt when I tried to clip his back claws... So the girl starts with the front paws. He wiggles a little but she is quick and knows her stuff. Then she continues with the back paws. The little devious thing started screaming bloody murder and whining as if we were cutting his toes one by one. I was puzzled and slightly worried.
"That's how he screamed when I tried! What do you mean he's all right?".
Well, it turns out Max is a little wuss when it comes to his back paws. That little rascal!

We weighted him on the way out and, on Thursday, July 22nd, Maximilien weighted a full 7.90 kg.

Aside from that, he is turning out to be a real typical dog. Here is one of the latest proofs:

Most dogs get stuck on poles and such. He manages to do it all by himself.

Given that there are very few people at work right now and that Niclas wanted to spend some time working on his dad's house with his brother, we decided I could take Max with me and see how he behaves while spending the whole day there. I have done it three times now over the course of two weeks and it has gone very well... except on the first day where he managed to first pee and then poop in my boss' office *hides in shame*. Luckily for me, he laughed and took the opportunity to take a coffee break while I cleaned it up. The worse part? We had just spent 10 minutes outside running and playing to see if Max needed to do something.
Otherwise, he has been behaving very well and he has been quite popular with everyone. He now knows where my office is as well as the bathroom boss' office where he knows he can get a few friendly scratches behind the ears.

Oh boy, we're going to work! I'm so eager, I slept under your car to make sure you wouldn't forget me!

Welcome to my office! It's just me and my human today as her coworkers are still away. That means more room for me! And I can chew on some cables while she isn't looking, muahahaha (sorry Kalle! No harm done, I swear).

This is where we plan all we've got to do. My picture isn't up there yet, but I'm sure they'll add me soon.

Ah, there's nothing like hard labour to make you feel good about yourself! Here I am in one of my finest creative moments.

Yesterday, we had the visit of Niclas' brother and Ludde. Max was quite pleased to be able to play with his cousin. His brother took beautiful pictures of them playing together and he has agreed to let me post them on the blog.

Catch me if you can!

When Ludde gets tired of the fight and starts to focus on a toy, Max will still try to get him to play with him. After seeing all his attempts to fail, he will steal Ludde's toy and run off with it, chased by Ludde who wants to get his toy back. While we were eating sausages, he managed to grab the plastic duck from Ludde and they both ran around the table a couple of times before the culprit was caught.

Two good buddies sharing a piece of wood

At one point, after the usual friendly fighting, they settled down and both gnawed on the same branch for about half an hour.

A very nice picture of Max with Ludde in the background

Max enjoying a bit of shade

Much later, the two cousins were cooling down and resting a bit while I was busy in the kitchen going "awwwwww"

That's it for now, folks! My good friend Mia is coming next weekend and I hope she will take her camera with her (hint hint). She makes beautiful pictures and I bet she would be delighted to catch Max on film. That means I might get more lovely pictures to share!

I Can...

Parents will often gush over their babies when they take their first step, speak their first word, get their first tooth, etc. Dates are often written down in a cute little journal to be eventually read, many years later, with a nostalgic smile on the reader's lips.

I thought about making a little book for Max, but I fear I would be a bit too lazy when it comes to write things down. I had already had the thought to continue to take one picture a week, on Wednesday, like Canagolds would do, so I could see his evolution but... well.. we take pictures, just not like they should be (one whre he sits and one where he stands).

However, I can put this stuff here! They say nothing you put on the itnernet ever vanishes, so that might be the best way to keep it for a very long time.

So, tell us Sir Maximilien Le Woof, what can you accomplish now that you are closing in on your 12th week of existance?

I can sit!

I can lie down!

I can *sometimes* bring back stuff (although these balls are a bit too big yet)

I can give the paw (since Friday!)

I can pretend I'm the Sphinx (yeah yeah, so he's more of a feline than a canine...)

And most of all...

I can hang out with my humans (and I love it)!