Day 101: As we expected, Nico has entered a phase of selective listening. When he was a little puppy he was great off leash. This is in part due to an instinctive desire to stay with the pack. As dogs age they have a natural tendency to want to venture further from home, explore the world on their own, and be independent. Nico gets "off leash" time as we work through this phase, but with his leash attached. This gives us just enough time to step on the leash if he takes off, which he hasn't. His recall isn't as good as it was a few months ago, but seems to be slowly improving.

Day 102: We may have to start referring to Nico as "crooked ear." He always has one ear sticking out. We all got a little over an hour of boat time in this evening. Life has been go go go for the past several weeks and we haven't been out on the water. It was nice to spend a bit of time on the lake.

Day 103: Nico gets a passing grade on the "leave it" command. Occasionally, he takes a minute to consider this request, but he eventually lets go. His retrieving drive isn't all that strong, so the reward of having the toy tossed isn't that great. Food is an excellent reward though. He'll drop just about anything as soon as he sees a hand go into the magic treat pouch.

Day 104: Nico was happy to spend some time on the boat this afternoon. He got to meet up with some friends, watch Shelly fish, and go for a short swim. All and all it was a good day for an Adirondack dog.

Day 105: Nico had a play date with his friend Noodles. It’s hot here in the Adirondacks today. Noodles tried to show Nico how to chill out in cool freshly dug soil. He didn’t learn, but was happy to participate in the digging. One downside of COVID dog socialization is we tend to only hang out for 30-40 minutes. As a result, Nico doesn’t really know how to just hang out with another dog. He’s taking a nap now. 😴

Day 106: Nico and Shelly off on a walk this evening. The little dude is a bundle of energy and needs to be walked regularly. We are hoping he settles down a bit before winter. Our prediction is he isn't going to be a huge fan of the cold. If so, it could be a long winter of cabin fever to deal with.

Day 107: Nico needs to run. I'm minutes away from ordering a PetSafe Invisible Fence system. My family has had them for dogs in the past and several neighbors have them as well. We are hoping Nico gets to the point where he can chill in the yard and he is 70% of the way there, but that isn't safe enough. In the meantime, this seems like a good alternative that will allow him to play fetch, run, etc. in our yard. Unfortunately, there is almost nowhere locally that we can take him to let him run like an animal out of control. Btw, you can see his adult canines grasping his bumper. He has big beautiful teeth coming in.

Day 108: Nico says, "Dad, I haven't seen you since 8:00 am and it's almost 10:00pm. I missed you very much and was very worried." I had a long day at work today and then was out most of the evening. Until this week I've been at home with Nico almost everyday since we rescued him. The tables are turning now though, Shelly is home with him and I'm off at work. Mixing it up is good for him in the long run, he'll respond better to new and different situations.

Day 109: Nico has a good set of lungs on him and a couple of times a day he seems to enjoy listening to his own voice. I came out of my office area to say hi to him and he stayed a few feet back howling, barking, and making all kinds of noises. The funny thing is, if you can get close enough to him to pet him he will almost always immediately stop. At the same time, he doesn't like you to get close when he is vocalizing. He's quite the character.

Day 110: Nico has grown out of his harness and collar, so today he got new ones. The little dude currently weighs 37lbs. The Embark Vet DNA test predicted he would have an adult weight of 49lbs. It looks like he will be pretty close to that.

Day 111: Nico is still learning the boundaries in our house. He broke Shelly down long ago on the no dogs on the couch rule. Now we are working on no dogs standing on or jump over the back of the couch. Here he is breaking that rule to spy towards the front door and out the front windows. Baby gates continue to be essential pieces of equipment in our house.

Day 112: Nico checked out the off-leash dog park in Lake Placid today. It's one of the only places around that is fenced in for dogs to run. He does ok in our yard off-leash but we are still trying to get his recall back up to par. The fenced dog park is a good place to practice that skill with lots of smelly distractions.

Day 113: Nico, Shelly, and I went out for an evening boat cruise. Nico is starting to get comfortable with his ears flapping in the breeze.

Day 114: I've always wanted to learn how to ride a motorcycle. I never pursued it because Khyber and I were glued together at the hip. When he passed I signed up for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation Basic Rider Course and planned to get my license. COVID derailed that for a few months, we adopted Nico, and I decided to proceed anyway. There are two reasons I wanted to learn to ride, 1) I enjoy learning new skills, and 2) I wanted to save gas on my daily commute (my bike gets 68mpg). What I didn't anticipate was how much riding would help me to relax and unplug. Riding safely takes 100% of your concentration, forcing you to unplug from distractions and clear your head. Nico is taking in the zen of motorcycle life from a stationary perspective, I'm hoping a little of the calming wears off on him. 🤣

Day 115: Nico got in some much needed play time with Chester and Kismet. He has a special love for Chester, constantly wanting to hump him. He plays more appropriate with Kismet because she won’t put up with behavior she doesn’t like. She does like to roll around with him, when she’s in the mood.

Day 116: We shipped Nico off to doggy daycare at the Lake Placid Animal Hospital today. It was his first time there and he didn't get kicked out, so we are considering it a success. A little time apart allows us to focus more during the day, and helps Nico be more comfrotable in different situations. We're not sure how much playing he got in, but he immediately scarfed down some food and laid down for a nap when we got him home.

Day 117: Today we let Nico's hound instincts come out. We went for a walk at Dewey Mountain Recreation Center and let Nico lead with his nose. His face was glued to the ground 85% of the time. The downside of this is he is on a continual decline in his recall. If he is on a scent he could care less what else is going on in the world. We continue to give him the opportunity to be off-leash and he continues to blow it by not coming when he is called. We are starting the install of an invisible fence in our yard this weekend so we can safely work with him so he can sniff to his heart's content but also come when called.

Day 118: Nico has had a long day. Morning walk, then another walk to the farmer's market, then a run to the dump, and then supervising me beginning the install of his invisible fence. We are rushing to get a bunch of house chores done today because tomorrow we move into a campsite on Lower Saranac Lake for a week. It was supposed to be a vacation but then I went and got a new job so will now be a basecamp for the week. I can't complain about being able to continue to go into work everyday from a campsite on the lake.

Day 119: Today is Nico's first day camping. The little dude doesn't know how to relax yet, so has gone from 7:00am to now (8:30pm) without taking a nap. He had a fun time chewing every log and stick within reach at our campsite. It will be interesting to see how to does at night in the tent. We are guessing he'll be so tired that he passes right out.

Day 120: Nico's first night in a tent went better than expected. He made his way from his bed to our air mattress pretty quickly, but it was chilly last night so both Shelly and I welcomed the warm little furnace in bed with us. This might come as a surprise, but this is the first time Nico has ever shared a bed with us. Nico and Shelly spent the middle of the day at home while I was off at Paul Smith's College for work. We're grateful to be able to camp and work just a few miles from our house.

Day 121: Nico has learned to respect the campfire and that smoke in your face is not fun. He continues to master the goofy tongue poses, which are too funny not to share. All of the stick chewing, sniffing, and playing is wearing him out.

Day 122: Camp life is exhausting Nico. Somewhat ironically, the boat is where he settles down and relaxes. Today he dug a hole in the beach next to our campsite, apparently consumed enough sand to make himself sick, then threw it up all over the boat. On the plus side, for the first time, he laid down beside us next to the fire and took a nap. He's slowly learning to relax in new and different environments.

Day 123: Commuting to and from from our campsite each day means we often arrive back just before dark. Here is Nico patiently waiting for permission to eat his dinner while being illuminated by a headlamp. His upset stomach from eating sand has settled down and he is back to his normal self. All of the stimulation each morning and evening had resulted in him being a little dream during the day while Shelly and I work.

Day 124: Shelly set Nico up in a camp chair next to the fire to keep him warm. He had no problem settling in and taking a quick snooze as we hung out beside the fire. Two more nights of camp life before we return to our normal routine.

Day 125: Sometimes it's easy to get wrapped up in life. Nico knows it's easy to get wrapped up in trees. The advantage is that as he gets more wound up there is less and less trouble he can get into.

Day 126: There is nothing as adorable as a sleeping puppy. We're back to our regular routines tomorrow. Nico passed the camping test, toward the end he was sleeping on the ground with no encouragement. This was a major improvement over the first day, which he spent the entire time sniffing and chewing. Nico has serious FOMO all the time. Getting him to settle down is always a big challenge.

Day 127: We are in our second day of invisible fence training. Nico had a hard time making the association between the flags, beeping, and the presence of a boundary on day one. Once we moved onto a static correction he got the hint pretty quickly. He knows when he hears the beep to turn around but is still learning what is in and out of bounds. On the plus side, Shelly and I were able to get some yard & motorcycle maintenance done this evening with Nico hanging out nearby and not wandering all over the place. We keep the leash on him to help guide him in the event he approaches the boundary.

Day 128: Nico spent part of the evening supervising me burying the wire for his invisible fence. He unexpectedly was forced to jump ahead a stage in his training by being face with a significant distraction. Two children on bikes, three dogs, and two adults came down our street. We keep his leash on him so if he does approach or go over the boundary we can help guide him back in. Besides a few barks, he did excellently at sitting and watching. Interestingly, this is the calmest we've ever seen when seeing another dog. Normally he is whining, pulling, jumping, and barking because he thinks other dogs mean playtime.

Day 129: Nico is starting to enjoy some of his yard freedom as he continues to learn his new boundaries. It's nice being able to do a little yard work, ie. burying the invisible fence wire, without having to have him tied up right next to me. We furthered his distraction training tonight by throwing his bumper over the line. He successfully stopped before the boundary.

Day 130: Such a beautiful little face. 🙂 Today was the first day we let Nico run around the yard without dragging a leash behind him. He zoomed more today than he ever has in his life. The rest of the evening he has been passed out on the floor. Life is good.

Day 131: So far our mission for the invisible fence has been accomplished. We can now wear Nico out. We still walk him multiple times a day, but that is more about obedience and mental stimulation than physical exhaustion. Spending a half-hour running full throttle around the yard wipes him out for a few hours.

Day 132: Since Nico was a little puppy we’ve made him wait to eat his food. It’s a practice I developed with Khyber. It helps reinforce who is in charge and teaches him to be patient. Nico has gotten very good at waiting. Occasionally we’ve forgotten about him for a half-hour or more and found him still waiting patiently in the kitchen.

Day 133: Social media is full of divisive content that does little but produce anger, hatred, and rage. Nico and I ask everyone to stop for a moment to consider how to be more respectful, caring, and loving online. It is also very important that we all recognize that foreign actors are behind much of the divisive memes and other content online, purposely trying to divide our country from within. We have an easy solution to all of this, only like, share, and comment on cute puppy photos! You can start with this one and feel free to encourage others to follow along for daily updates to help keep your Facebook feed positive and joyful. 🙂

Day 134: Nico hasn't graduated to office/campus status. I will say that after long days away from him I miss his little face and enjoy his enthusiastic greetings. I captured this shot of him this morning before heading off to work, knowing I wouldn't be back until after dark. Shelly has been holding down the fort lately and on Nico duty all day long. Thankfully he's mostly chill during the day and needs far less focused attention then when he was a little baby puppy.

Day 135: While unpacking gear for our camping trip I came across a bunch of old items from Khyber's early days. One such item was a head halter that I briefly used with Khyber to work on his leash walking skills. We are giving it a go with Nico, who isn't particularly fond of it. Here he is trying to get it off his face with his tongue, a strong but unsuccessful effort.

Day 136: Nico has more energy, spunk, and persistence than any dog I've ever had before. He isn't always a cute cuddly little puppy. Throughout the day he goes through periods of frustration and has temper tantrums. We're working through all of this with him, but its a lot of work for Shelly and I. He needs an incredible amount of physical and mental stimulation to be satisfied each day. This photo is of him throwing a fit in the yard this moring. I often sing to him, "why can't we be friends" and gently reach out to rub his chest. This usually results in a really confused look on his face, followed by calm as he relishes in the chest rub.

Day 137: Nico likes to sit on things, like me, Shelly, stairs, boxes, and the side of the boat. The places he decides to plop his little butt down on can be quite funny sometimes.

Day 138: Nico had a neighbor dog visit him in the yard today. After the other dog left Nico spent a half-hour retracing his steps through the yard, sniffing out every footstep and place the dog peed. It is clear that Nico is very scent driven.

Day 139: Nico lives a hard life...

Day 140: Shelly, Nico, and I visited friends camping at Cedar River Flow. Nico wasn't very happy that he had to stay on his leash and couldn't romp with two new dog friends and a bunch of people friends. One disadvantage of having a COVID-puppy is it is hard to provide social opportunities that are long enough for him to learn how to settle down. After six hours or so he finally began to relax.

Day 141: Nico doing a play bow and front paw slap toward Shelly. This is typically followed by a high energy charge or zooming around the yard. Nico loves to play but is still figuring out how to do so appropriately with humans. He's so darn cute its hard to get too mad at him when he spears you in the ribs with one of his little paws.

Day 142: We have a lot of work to do to turn Nico into an all-weather dog, currently he is a fair-weather puppy. In this photo he is standing at the door waiting to go back inside because it is cool with a light drizzle. When Khyber was a young dog I worked for the Adirondack Mountain Club and we would spend days to weeks out at Johns Brook Lodge. He became hardened to adverse weather conditions and could generally care-less about the weather, unless it was very very cold. He benefitted from the lab coat which if outdoor gear manufacturers could figure out how to mimic they would strike gold. It is warm, sheds water, and dries fast. Little Nico will land somewhere in the middle I suspect. He still needs to learn the joys of going on outdoor adventures but doesn't have the coat necessary for extreme weather conditions.

Day 143: Nico likes to shove his toys against us or drop them in the middle of whatever we are doing. In this case he figured, "why not put my ball on Shelly's shoe," in hopes she would engage in play with him.

Day 144: This is Nico pouting after being scolded for biting my arm. One of the biggest challenges we face with him is learning not to use his mouth on people. He is improving, slowly. Tonight he got me good while pushing a kong against my arm. He isn't aggressive but when excited he starts grabbing at us with his mouth. Overall he is a very tactile dog. He has a lot of dexterity with his paws and is excellent at gripping things with them. It is natural for him to extend that to his mouth and therefore hard to learn that isn't appropriate with people. It is all a part of the learning process for a young pup.

Day 145: Operation exhaust Nico is back in effect. This morning I woke at 6am to take him for a run. I don't run, but always wanted to get into it. I woke Nico from a sound sleep. We ran/walked, but mostly ran, 2.0 miles. Then Shelly took him for a walk late-morning. And finally, he and I hiked up Dewey Mountain in the evening. He got in at least 7 miles of running, walking, and hiking today and is finally tired. This is what we have to do to put even a mild dent in his energy...

Day 146: Another successful day of Operation Exhaust Nico. We went on a 7-mile hike today. It rained on-and-off most of the time and then poured on us the last half hour. We also made progress toward him being more of an all-weather dog. He didn't mind the rain at all. He is currently passed out on the couch and we anticipate he will remain that way the rest of the day.

Day 147: Shelly, Nico, and I went on what will likely be the last boat ride of the year this evening. Nico was like a pinball bouncing back and forth all over the boat almost the entire time. Shelly tried to get him to lay down under a blanket with her but he kept wanting to chew on her and the blanket. We failed at Operation Exhuast Nico today, Shelly and I needed a rest day. 🙂

Day 148: This is late-morning sleepy Nico face. After his morning walk/run, breakfast, and a bit of craziness, he typically settles in for a long late-morning nap. It's hard walking by him without giving him snuggles.

Day 149: Early morning walk in the woods with little Nico. It won't be too long before our morning walks are in the dark and not long after that we may be going for early morning ski outings. We are very lucky to have Dewey Mountain Recreation Center accessible from our backyard.

Day 150: I wanted to take a photograph of Nico's cute little nose, but then noticed he was foaming at the mouth in anticipation of food. Khyber was a drool monster, saliva would pour out of his mouth at the anticipation of food or a ball. Nico just gets a little frothy. It's hard to believe we are at Day 150. My goal is to capture a photo of Nico every day for the rest of his life. This is a hugely ambitious goal that challenges my creativity as a photographer on a daily basis. I have 4,577 total images of little Nico, you all only see the 'best' photo from each day. The images are almost all shot as RAW files with a Nikon Z7, each one is ~60MB, bringing the total file size of all images so far to ~255GB. If I pull this off I will have an incredible number of photos at the end of his life. Backup, storage, and organization are all challenges when handling this many images. There are a lot of images that are out of focus or poorly composed, but those often tell really funny stories of him doing something that I or the camera were just not fast enough to capture. I often wonder if I'm foolish for trying to achieve such an ambitious goal. We take it one day at a time.

Day 151: Shelly: "Let's get a photo of me and Nico sitting together." Me: "Haha, yeah right, like he is going to sit calmly right now." Nico: "AHHHHHH, Let's play! Come on Shelly I want to wrestle!"

Day 152: Shelly, Nico, and I are closing our family camp this weekend. We boated across the bay to the island with the very last rays of evening light shining down on us. Nico was super excited to be able to run around the island, which has grown in size since his last visit because the water is low. We are all settling down for the night. We have a lot to do over the next two days.

Day 153: I spent all day trying to get the battery on my nice camera to charge with no luck. We got both docks pulled today which was anticipated to be challenging with just Shelly and I. Thankfully we have long-time neighbors that swung by the island to give a helping hand then did the same over on the mainland. It’s amazing what a little community can do to lighten the load on a difficult task. Nico is flat out exhausted from running around like a maniac all day long. We made a quick run to get food before a storm rolled through and I was able to snap this iPhone pic of Shelly, Nico, and Duck Blind Island as we made our way back.

Day 154: A sure sign Nico is over tired, or maybe adequately tired, is when he is willing to lay down somewhere that is abnormal. He went hard all day today, running around the island for hours on end. When Shelly brought his bed out to pack in the boat he settled down on it for a few minutes. The camp is buttoned up for the winter, we are home, and we have one exhausted puppy.

Day 155: If you are a stick in our yard you don't stand a chance.

Day 156: Nico had a neighbor dog visit him in the yard this evening. Two of our neighbors have invisible fences, one being Nico's best neighborhood buddy, Wilson. I wish there were a way to connect them all together so they could romp and play whenever they liked. Nico did well in obeying his boundaries after his friend left. He spent the next half hour watching the woods in our backyard, hoping for his friend to return.

Day 157: I'm a day late with this photo because yesterday was a long day. I knew that going into it and took Nico for a morning walk up Dewey, but then forgot to edit and post the photo last night. As you can see we are rapidly approaching stick season in the Adirondacks. Strong winds and rain have brought down most of the leaves. Nico really enjoys sniffing all of them, presenting a new challenge for keeping a good pace on our walks.

Day 158: The story of the Summit rugby ball: Sometime around 10 years ago Khyber very politely stole this off the dresser of my friend and roommate Mark. The three boys (Mark, Khyber, and I) lived in a very very small apartment in Kingston, ON while Mark and I were both graduate students at Queen's University. It was a thing to behold how politely Khyber could take an item he was interested in. Apparently, his politeness was viewed favorably by Mark, even though he stole this ball off of Mark's dresser, and was gifted to Khyber. For many years Khyber cared for and played with this ball. And now it is passed onto Nico, who in all likelihood will destroy it in the cutest of ways, several orders of magnitude faster than Khyber would have.

Day 159: Another long day at work had me arriving home right as the sun was setting. The setting sun was being caught by the low clouds giving our entire area a very eery warm glow. Nico wasn't interested in the lighting as much as I was. Instead, he was focused on a bush that he dug a dead mole out from under earlier today. He has quite the nose on him and I'm sure was particularly proud of his find. Shelly got it away from him and made sure it was properly disposed of. The bush remains a fascinating spot.

Day 160: Nico spent the evening visiting with Kismet and Chester. He was a little over the top with his play at first, after an hour outside he began to tone it down to a more reasonable level. They gave him a full inspection when they came inside. Nico wasn't too sure of what was going on so just laid very still as both dogs sniffed and nibbled him. We are waiting for the day when Nico relaxes around other dogs. He still hasn't figured out how to get out of play mode.

Day 161: I inflated Nico's rugby ball so that it is easier to kick. One side effect is that it is now a little bit of a challenge for Nico to pick up. This makes it much more fun to kick around the yard with him because he can't quickly grab it and run. I would like to think the look on Shelly's face is an, "uh oh, the ball might hit Brendan" look, but I don't think she was that worried about hitting me with a ruby ball. 🤣

Day 162: Nico and I left for our morning walk with barely enough light in the forest for us to see. Thirty minutes later we were at the summit of Dewey Mountain. Nico is getting good at walking on a leash in the woods. He does a lot better in the woods than on the streets. I think it is because there is so much to distract him in the forest that he doesn't have a go-go-go mindset, at least not in terms of forward momentum.

Day 163: Nico spends most of his time outside with his nose to the ground. I wish I could experience his olfactory sense. I'm sure it offers a completely different perspective of the world.

Day 164: Nico spent the day at doggy daycare at the Lake Placid Animal Hospital. Despite our best efforts, he is a wild child. I'm fairly certain we went from one end of the spectrum to the other in terms of model dog patient. Khyber would go in calm, tail wagging, and eager for attention but polite. I'm fairly certain Nico is excited and rude (barking, jumping, pulling). 🤦‍♂️ Thankfully, the staff at the animal hospital are extremely understanding and accepting of different dogs. We'll keep working with Nico and hope something eventually clicks so he can be a be anywhere, go anywhere, dog.

Day 165: I'm very thankful to have Dewey Mountain Recreation Center accessible from our backyard. There is no better way to start a day than a walk through the forest. I think Nico agrees.

Day 166: Nico is always keeping an eye on what is happening in the neighborhood. In this moment he was looking at a bird flying off from the birdbath, then diverted his attention to a plane flying overhead. There is very little that happens in or around our yard that he misses.

Day 167: For as much as Nico is a crazy man, he is also a big snuggler. It is extremely rare for him to be on the couch with us and not burying his head against either Shelly or me. These are the moments when he redeems himself for any prior transgressions.

Day 168: Shelly, Nico, and I went on a short hike to Clements Pond after doing volunteer drone work for the Ausable River Association for a project they are working on. Nico is definitely an outdoor dog at this point. He loves sniffing everything along the trail and is getting better at following, not pulling. We are making progress, baby steps, each day, one step after another.

Day 169: Over the weekend we started working with Nico on an e-collar. I know some think they are horrible but rest assured I received the full range of stimulation before putting it on Nico. He responds to the lowest level which both Shelly and I could barely feel. After just a few days working with him on "follow me" activities he is so much better on our daily walks and hikes. Today we started working with him on not lunging at cars driving by, which he has improved upon in a major way in just one day. We tried a lot of the other tricks for teaching good leash walking behavior but none worked very well. If he continues on this path we may be able to return to off-leash walking when hiking.

Day 170: Nico experienced his first snowfall this evening. He wasn't phased at all. Once back at home I threw a few small snowballs for him and he was clearly confused about them 'disappearing' into the ground. We are interested to see how he responds to the first big snowfall accumulation. I think he is going to run around like a crazy man, bounding through the snow. Shelly thinks he isn't going to be a big fan of the cold and wet.

Day 171: An unconventional grip on a tennis ball. This is a good representation of how Nico approaches life, unconventionally. He and I were playing in the yard for a bit before going on our evening walk. Nico knew we were all geared up to go and was more interested in getting on with the walk than playing with toys in the yard.

Day 172: Nico came to work with me at the Adirondack Watershed Institute today. This was his second visit to the office. The first was on a weekend and did not set high expectations for regular office visits. Today he far exceeded expectations. He hung out for over six hours and wasn't a distraction to other people and not very much to me. We worked on establishing a boundary at my office door, not jumping on co-workers, and relaxing with various disruptions and sounds. He was extremely excited to meet everyone and was excellent at not jumping on people. Today was a major milestone for Nico.

Day 173: Nico walked 2 miles with me at Dewey Mountain Recreation Center this morning without me holding onto his leash. This included a short bushwhack side trip to retrieve a trail cam behind our house. We are slowly gain ground on providing a safe level of independence and freedom for him. A side note: I love the geometry of his tail, especially the reverse curve of the white tip.

Day 174: Nico spent the entire afternoon outside with me as I tinkered away at an old gas-powered leaf blower. He also got to go for a car ride to the hardware store. Even though we didn't go on a walk or hike today I'm sure he is going to be flat out exhausted this evening.

Day 175: One item on our training/socialization to-do list for quite some time has been to go on a hike with another dog. This is mainly meant to work with Nico on settling down with another dog around. Thankfully our good friends Seth and Chester were up for helping Nico and me with this. We did a 6.9-mile hike in the Debar Mountain Wild Forest along the Kettle Trail. As expected, Nico was overly excited at the beginning of our walk but within a half-mile began to calm down and become comfortable with walking near Chester without directly interacting with him. I dressed him up with what I have always referred to as Khyber's "don't shoot me" jacket. It is a little big on Nico but is adjustable enough that we were able to make it work.

Day 176: Well, the verdict is partially in, Nico doesn't mind the snow and cold. We went for our normal 40-minute walk this morning in 20-degree temperatures and blowing snow. When we got back he enjoyed running around the yard, digging and biting at the snow. He has also taken to eating all of the snow knocked off our boots in the front entry. Time will tell if his enthusiasm holds as the winter months wear on.

Day 177: We received a good amount of snow coverage last night. It wasn't until we got into the woods that I realized I could have easily skied on our morning walk. I decided to let Nico off-leash, one advantage of the snow is if he did take off it would be easy to track him. He did excellently, the e-collar has made a huge difference in his recall and loose-leash walking. We walked 2-miles with no issues and plenty of playing in the snow.

Day 178: Yesterday was a missed opportunity to go skiing at Dewey Mountain Recreation Center. Nico and I made up for it this morning before all the snow began to melt away. He did very well, although I had a hard time fumbling around with a camera over my shoulder, ski poles, and the e-collar handheld. The highlight for both Nico and I was going down a few small hills and having him run right beside me. This shot was taken while skiing down a hill, crouching to get more on Nico's level, and turning to shoot to my side. Skiing is a great way to capture action shots of dogs. I absolutely love skiing with a dog as they run along, you can tell it just fills their soul.

Day 179: And just like that the snow is gone. Nico's ball may be deflated but his spirit is not. We are enjoying 1st spring before 2nd winter arrives. The weather in the Adirondacks will always keep you on your toes.

Day 180: In the photo a day for life effort I failed to consider how the shortened daylight would add a new challenge. We often leave for our morning walk in the dark. When we get back it is light out and may have a little bit of playtime in the yard before I head off to work. I'm usually back from work after dark. This leaves very little time to capture a photo of Nico.

Day 181: Shelly, Nico, and I went for a hike exploring Paul Smith's College land with Seth, Kendra, and Chester. Given Nico's progress with the e-collar, I decided to let him run free the entire time. One of our goals is to get him to be a bit calmer around other dogs. We worked with him on not jumping on Chester every two minutes. Chester is an exceptionally tolerant dog, which helps a lot. We hiked 6 miles but estimate that Nico likely ran anywhere from 15-18 miles. Toward the end, we took a break and he actually laid down at our feet. When we got him home his buddy Wilson was out across the street. He went over to play and zoomed around with Wilson for a good 5-10 minutes, doing laps around Wilson's house. He is one exhausted little pup tonight!

Day 182: Shelly has been working with Nico on his catching skills. Several months ago he was showing some promise and then it all went downhill. He has made a lot of progress in the past few days. He was lined up well to catch this one but you can tell my throw was off, forcing him to his right. He just barely missed but I'll take the blame. I still haven't mastered blindly throwing a ball with a camera up to my eye. Khyber had impeccable catching skills which made up for my poor throws.

Day 183: Today started off a little rough. Nico had a straight-up freak out session when we walked by another dog this morning. He gets so amped when he sees other dogs; barking, pulling, and this morning essentially screaming. He wants to go say hi and play, when he can't he sometimes loses it. Shelly and I are regrouping and have a plan to help refocus his energy. The rest of the day he spent with me at work. He made a few new friends and overall did very well. We wrapped up the day with a short walk on the Paul Smith's College campus while taking in an amazing sunset.

Day 184: It's quite funny watching Nico try to pick up the rugby ball. Once he does he has a grand old time running around with it barely in his mouth.

Day 185: Nico spent the day at the vet to get neutered. He is still a little dopey from the anesthesia and pain meds but otherwise is doing well. He got to spend the afternoon up in the office at the Lake Placid Animal Hospital, sleeping under one of their desks. I'm sure he felt more comfortable there. He spends a good chunk of his day sleeping under Shelly's desk at home. The doctor's orders are no running, jumping, or climbing for the next seven days. That should be a fun challenge!

Day 186: Nico loves Khyber's Benebone which we bought for him during his Bonus Day journey. Nico is a much more dedicated bone chewer. He has made more progress on the bone in 185 days than Khyber did on most of his bones over several years. Occasionally I am recruited to be the bone holder, although Nico is very dexterous and doesn't require assistance.

Day 187: It was a brisk morning for a walk. Nico has protested the cone of shame, which has resulted in he and I sleeping on the couch together so I can keep tabs on him. This has also resulted in him deciding we should wake up much earlier than I would like. Thankfully our couch is big enough for both of us to sleep comfortably on and I think he quite likes it.

Day 188: I recently upgraded from an iPhone X to a 12 Pro Max. Camera upgrades are almost universally the only feature I care about when considering a new phone. I have to say that the advancements Apple has made with computational photography are impressive. I can pixel peep this image and point out numerous flaws when compared to my full frame Nikon. At the same time it is impressive that this technology is in the pockets of so many people. This is the future of photography and where almost all major advancements are being made. I love how much more approachable photography is these days.

Day 189: The no running restriction for Nico is a bit challenging. This afternoon I had to do hard work. Normally I would let Nico wander the yard, instead he was tied to my waist. Predictably, he decided to take a dump in the middle of the pile of leaves I was blowing. We are all going to be relieved (pun intended) when he is allowed to run free again.

Day 190: We’re making slow progress on office dog status. Every day Nico comes into work with me we go through a few hours of whining because he is upset he can’t tear around the building. Eventually he settles in. Today I figured out that he prefers to sleep at my feet under my desk.

Day 191: Today is Nico's last day of restricted activity. Hopefully, he doesn't hurt himself when we let him run wild tomorrow. I'm fairly certain he is going to run laps around the yard at full throttle.

Day 192: Nico took full advantage of his lifted restriction on running, jumping, and climbing. He decided to check all three boxes by climbing and running over the back of our chiminea and jumping off the edge. He did about 10-20 laps up, around, and off the edge. As a side note: action shots like these are super hard to capture. They require a fast shutter speed, which means a fast aperture that challenges autofocus accuracy, and high ISO which degrades image quality.

Day 193: This is Nico milliseconds after launching for a full out run around the yard. You can see the power built up in his rear legs, propelling him forward with enough momentum to lift his front legs as they start their forward reach into the all-out running gait. There are few things more enjoyable in life than watching a dog run.

Day 194: Nico is officially a member of the Paul Smith's College community. He got his name on our office door before I did. On our lunch break we hung out with one of his dog colleagues, Gouda. They ran, wrestled, and played hard. We may get a talking to by Shelly when we get home because Nico is covered in sap and dog slobber. 🙂

Day 195: Mid-stride stick readjustment, and look at those pearly whites! Besides a few play sessions in the yard, Nico has spent most of the day sleeping on the couch. It was a cool overcast day and all of us just puttered around the house all day.

Day 196: We took Nico along for a birding trip to the Champlain valley this afternoon. He had a ball running full throttle along the shore in Westport. I don't think he has ever run all out for such a continuous length of time. He had foamy checks when he finished, then shook his head resulting in foamy slobber all over his face.

Day 197: Another day at the office for Nico. One major perk of working at Paul Smith's College is access to so many great places to walk on our lunch break. The e-collar has been such a success in terms of off-leash activity. Yesterday Nico went on a massive sprint along Lake Champlain, eventually getting out of sight, and our training with the e-collar turned him around. We're really proud of how well he is doing at such a young age.

Day 198: Crazy Mode: Activated Every morning when we get back from our walk Nico goes crazy in the yard. This evening Shelly was doing Zumba and I was jumping/dancing around while cooking dinner. Nico wasn't quite sure what to think of all the activities but had fun joining in the exercise. He likes to rear up on his hind legs and swat at us when he is really excited or play bow and bark. We're still working on him not nipping/grabbing at us while doing this. Once we get that behavior straightened out he will be a lot of fun to roughhouse with.

Day 199: Sometimes things in life just line right up.

Day 200: Chester brings out Nico's crazy eye. We're thankful dogs can still play while us humans socially distance. Stay safe everyone and Happy Thanksgiving!

A Photo A Day For Life: Day 101 - 200

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