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| Am I grown up yet? |
Well here we are at Gumbo's 13 month mark. A lot has happened since our little Gumbo passed the 1-year threshold. He hasn't caused any major damage or destruction to our home, ourselves or to himself so we're very grateful at this point.
Now that he's grown to this ripe old age, we're told he's an adult now. An adult. What does that mean? It conjures up all sorts of things to us. Can he suddenly be trusted with all things? Will he behave better than before? Will he listen to us and learn what to do and what not to do? Or does it mean we should only feed him once a day as the dog food sellers say.
Looking at him, he's certainly grown to his probable adult size. He's bigger than our previous Jack who only topped out at about 17 lbs during his entire life. I'd have to say Gumbo is probably 20 lbs at least if not 22 lbs. We've tried to weigh him at the vet however he's so excited he can't stay on the scale long enough to get a decent guess. We've wondered if maybe the only way to truly know is to have the vet knock him out and lay him on the scale while he's asleep. On further thought, no, I don't want them to do that. We'll live with our guess to his weight.
Some time ago, we emailed the breeder where we got Gumbo to ask about his temperament and when he would change his constant need for motion. They told us that at 18 months he'd be "an awesome dog." I'd say Gumbo is an awesome dog right now. I'm not sure what will happen at 18 months but perhaps it will be big. Maybe he'll suddenly stop bringing in things from the garden to chew on in the front room. Maybe he'll lose his desire to discover every nook and cranny of our house. Maybe he'll want to just sit instead of jumping for joy whenever we get the leash out for walks. Maybe he'll just be a lap dog.
Gosh, I sure hope not! I think I'll go and throw the ball with Gumbo to make sure I don't miss any moments in case he decides to change!
