Dr. Doogie,

So when I started this blog I had dreams(intentions) that this would be one of those Doogie Howser things where I'd be sitting here putting a close to the day with some insightful inscriptions about my dog and myself. I would write about some awareness about myself through my daily interaction with Beau and how he would parallel my life. As we became more bonded and he took on my characteristics I could see those things about myself that I couldn't, or wouldn't. I still have those aspirations but somehow life, my life, doesn't always seem to work out quite the way I plan it. I will however be more dutiful in noting those observations about Beau and his development.

So what's been happening? Over the last week Beau has been noticeably more trusting of strangers. His threshold of pain has gone from about 25 feet to 3 feet. For some he still hides behind me but he does come up to inspect. For others it's 10 feet and circling. Yesterday he went on a long ride to Pupukea with me to visit my friend Coco. He got to ramble through her acre lot and smell some weird stuff I'm sure. Her place has roaming wild pigs and chickens. I was moving some stuff with her truck and Beau was a real trooper and rode with me everywhere. By late afternoon he was whipped from sliding all over the front seat and only enough space to curl into a ball for a catnap between traveling. More than once he had Snoopy's "buzzard" look with droopy eyes just barely open. That evening we went over to my mom's and she surprised me by telling me to call him in. (I never thought my mother to be any kind of dog lover.) He hesitated but he came in, and actually sat to let my mom pet him. Still a little frozen with his head lowered but it was far from his usual turn tail and run. We finally got home after 10 hours on the road and he still picked up his ball, hot for a game of fetch. He was out cold once he got inside and on his pad though.

I made some other observations too.