{203-205 days old}

The weekend after camping, we took another weekend trip, this time down the Oregon coast to visit some friends at Seal Rock.  It was a long drive in traffic, we left Seattle at 130 and by the time we got there it was close to 830pm.
The next morning after breakfast we walked down to the beach to check it out.

Darwin was very excited to run on the beach, though a little nervous about all the fog.

Jason and Megan decided to climb some rocks to check out the view from above, and Darwin was so upset she was stuck on the sand.

She paced back and forth and cried and whined.  It was pathetic.  Finally she walked around and found a spot low enough she could jump up.

Of course when it was time to get down, Darwin was a little freaked out about that too, and it took a bit of time for her to be willing to jump down the way she jumped up.
We took a walk down the beach, but couldn't see much due to the fog.  
We headed into Newport for the afternoon, and after some beer and gin tasting at Rogue headed to the old town to walk around.  There was a pier that overlooked an area with lots of seals.  

All the barking of the seals scared Darwin, and she didn't want to set foot on the pier.  It took a few tries but she finally did it.

The next day we headed to another stretch of beach.  It was pretty empty so we got to play some fetch, which Darwin will do about 3 times before she stops.

We got a nice "family" picture...

As we walked down the beach some lazy owner didn't pick up their dogs poop, and it got stepped in.  So while I attempted to bury it so no one else could step in it, Darwin supervised Jason's shoe cleaning.

I found a crab claw on the beach and had some fun "crushing Darwin's head" (Anyone remember that from Kids in the Hall? see the video here)

We walked a bit further, then headed back.  It was going to be another long drive home and so we headed out.  Darwin was pooped from all the excitement of the weekend.

{20nov2009: photo challenge}

Our entry this week for the Dane's Down Under Photo Challenge of body part is:

Darwin's nose!  Taken on our drive to go camping.

{196-198 days old}

This past August we packed up the car and went camping for the first time!
{Are we there yet?!}

We headed out East to a spot our friends knew of... a little secluded spot on a lake.  We got there after a three or so hour drive and set up camp.  As soon as we were set, Darwin and Juneau wanted to check out the lake.  Juneau played fetch, while Darwin waded. 

Darwin was brave and hopped on a log with Sajo, but slipped off as she tried to pass him and was so embarrassed after she didn't want to go back in the water.

The dogs played and avoided the fire and soon it was bedtime and Darwin was happy to come into the tent with us.  She slept on my sleeping bag through the night and not on her bed, so though the tent could hold 6 people, we took up about 1/3 of it.  In the morning it was a bit chilly so I wrapped her up in the blankets.

She soon heard Juneau outside and wanted out so they could play.

After a yummy breakfast made by Jason, Sajo went fishing in the lake, and Jason, Darwin and I took a trek around the lake.

It was naptime for the pups, so they both went in their respective tents and rested for a bit.

{Can I come out yet?!}

It was a fun weekend in the outdoors, and we'll need to do it again next summer!

{17nov2009: daycare adventures continue}

It's Tuesday, which means another day of daycare for Darwin.  Today I went prepared, loaded with her favorite treats to lure her out of the car (didn't really work).  I parked down the block from the daycare, but she could still hear some barking and was hesitant to get out.  I finally got her out and she seemed excited and willing to walk to daycare and even into the building.  It took a little coaxing with treats to get her to go to the play area, but she did it after only a minute.  Today's drop off took half the time as last week.  Success!  Sort of.
I refrained from being the crazy overly concerned mom and didn't call at lunch time today.  But I did rush out after work to pick her up.  She was in a kennel again when I got there... anxiety when other dogs started leaving... again so they wanted to calm her down by kenneling her.  
So step forward in the morning... step back at the end of the day.  But it's some progress!  

{191 days old}

Darwin's first blue boyfriend was a 5.5 month old, Jager, that she met at Marymoor three months ago.  Their love affair started on land....

And then moved to the water... 

{I always think they look like hippos circling Jason in this picture}

He had to leave after that so Darwin got some play time in the water on her own.

We met up with the dane group later and that meant more water time!

The hot summer weather was great for motivating Darwin to get in the water.  Now that its colder out she's not interested at all.

{15nov2009: Darwin the destroyer}

I put Darwin to a test this weekend.  I was going out Saturday night and decided to see if Darwin would behave if I left her out in the living room rather than lock her in the kitchen.  I left a light on for her and headed out hoping and praying that she'd be good.  When I got home, she was on her bed (not the couch surprisingly) and everything seemed in order.  Woo hoo!  Aunty Aileen won a stuffed puppy from a crane machine while we were out and so Darwin got it for passing her test.  
I gave it to her Saturday night.  Sunday morning he was eyeball-less.

She still loved him though, and carried him around in her mouth.

Sunday afternoon, I noticed he was tail-less and couldn't remember if he had a tail before Darwin got a hold of him or not.  A little while later I got my answer.... 

That's his tail down there... and his stuffing.  At some point last night, she made a hole in its back and decided to unstuff him.

{15nov2009: weekend parks}

Jason's out of town for work, so it was a girls weekend for Darwin and I.  I decided we needed to branch out and try a new park and headed over to West Seattle's Westcrest Park.  It was a fun park with good play areas and a path that loops around the park.  There were also gates that lead you to other trails around the park.  Darwin got to play with a lot of new friends and we even ran into another dane, Willis, who we had met outside our office a few months ago when Darwin was just a tiny pup.  

Yesterday it was raining and cold in Seattle so of course Darwin had no desire to be outside.  Of course since we do live in Seattle, she'll have to get used to the rain, so I took her to Marymoor to test a theory.  Juneau's mom thinks that if Darwin got to play in the rain she'd get used to it.  I started her off in her coat to ease her into it.

After a few minutes, she was wrestling with another pup and her new coat was filthy (great) so I took it off to see if she would handle being coat free in the rain.

After a while the rain stopped and Darwin was content running through mud puddles and rolling around.  As we were leaving the rain started up again and so rather than leaving, we did another lap around the park and she got some play time in with a new friend.

She seemed to forget about the rain which was good.  Of course this morning when it was time to go outside and it was windy and rainy, she paused for a bit before going out.  Maybe a few more times playing in the rain will do the trick.

{184 days old}

A week after our office summer picnic, Sydney and her (sort of) sister London came out to Marymoor to meet up with the dane group.  

We tried to get Darwin and Sydney to sit for a family picture, but of course they didn't want to cooperate very much.

{Sydney to the left, Darwin on the right}

When we saw her the week before, they were both barky and growly trying to assert their dominance over eachother.  At the park they finally were able to see who was queen bee, and once that was established they could run and play.

Darwin even got some play time in with London.

A mastiff puppy, Samwise, came to join in the fun too.

Darwin's bff Juneau showed up too!

Here's a short video of London Sydney and Darwin running through the grass.