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I wanted to let you know, first of all, how much we are all enjoying darling Obie! You and Valerie were right on when you encouraged us to stick it out through the tough transition period. We cannot imagine a life without Obie to share it with!

We got to take him camping with us at Mt Baker last week and, despite my irrational worries about my dog menacing the campground, he was, of course, the model camper. He is even able to be off-leash reliably, something I never thought we'd never achieve with him, and has daily meet-ups with his best buddy Dino at our neighborhood park, where the two romp around and chew on each other, ending up wet, slobbery and very happy!

So far, Obie has been mostly a wonderful joy for my family. We are having so much fun with him, and apart from the 6am wake-up calls, everything has been smooth sailing. I did order the harness that you recommended and am looking forward to trying it out. But! This smart little cookie of a dog has already been quite receptive to some leash training I tried yesterday, that I wonder how much we'll end up needing it! We are currently working on this: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xd1vr2_dog-training-made-easy-stop-pulling_animalsundefined#.UUnwaDeFVvc and after one walk around the neighborhood and a lot of backward steps, Obie, for the most part, isn't pulling - yay! He really is so clever and well behaved, I think you guys must have worked with him a lot already!

We made a trip to the dog park yesterday, too, and he was friendly with the other dogs there (all his age and activity level). It was wonderful to see him run full bore! He is quick! He had such a great time chasing the other dogs chasing their balls, and everyone commented on his great (albeit toothless) smile! ;) And, it was really nice to have a t-i-r-e-d puppy, at least for a bit! I'm including a few photos of 3 happy kids and one happy pup!

I will certainly keep you up to date on Obie and his progress, and if there is anything else you need from me please don't hesitate to call or email.

We have had a very busy afternoon and evening! I was worried at first, because his activity/anxiety level was pretty high (we did a lot of walking around the neighborhood - or being pulled around the neighborhood by that strong pup and going into the backyard for tries at potty, and general entertaining) that I thought we were in for a tough few days.

But, he has quieted down quite a bit this evening and we even caught a few puppy-like falling asleep with his head still erect moments. He has gone potty without problem, several times already. As per your advice, we have been very stringent about putting on the lead before we even think about opening any outside doors, and I have started working with him on sitting and waiting at the door for the kids and I to enter or exit first - tough, but he's already kinda getting it.

Oh, and he officially has a *new* name; 'Obie'! Being a bilingual household and Meeko being very similar sounding to a Japanese female name, we wanted to change it. Although, my top choices were Sherman, Rufus and Sumac, they all lost out to a name my husband could more easily pronounce and one that the kids found fun (like Obi Wan Kenobi). We are trying very hard not to call him Meeko, but every once in a while it, since we've know him so much longer as 'Meeko' it slips out.