Natasha portraits

We're just finishing up more than a week of warm, even hot, sunny days. It's supposed to start raining later today and be wet for a week. The dogs and the people have enjoyed spending time outdoors.

Yesterday I took a few pictures of Natasha, who is now three months old. She's getting along well with Callie the border collie and Bert the black cat. She had her first visit with the vet last week. She's gained nearly four pounds since we brought her home and now weighs in at 10 pounds.

'Tasha is also making great progress on the house-breaking front. There's still a little accident from time to time — mostly pipi. When she does it on the tile floors, it's no big deal. On the rugs, well... that's happening less and less now. She's learned to come to either one of us and give a short, shrill bark when she needs to be taken outside, and she wakes us up at about 4:00 a.m. most mornings when it's time for her sortie.

The main progress we are hoping will happen soon is her learning how to go down stairs. She runs right up, but she's afraid to go back down. Dogs are naturally afraid of falling, they say — les chiens ont peur du vide — and 'Tasha's legs are short. Once she completely masters stairs, she'll be independent, since we keep the doors open in summertime.