Day 301: Nico had a lot of fun running around Lower Saranac Lake this afternoon. Shelly tossed a few snowballs for him, which resulted in the most epic fails on his part in terms of catching. In his defense, it was very bright out and the sun was in his face as he was jumping for these.

Day 302: Nico always makes sure to keep watch of what is happening in the kitchen. Sometimes he's in the thick of it, other times he quietly lays at the threshold watching everything happening. One thing is for certain, if anything is dropped he's right on top of it.

Day 303: Wish Nico a Happy Birthday! 🎉 Our little dude turned one year old today. It's hard to believe it's been so long already. In two more months, we'll celebrate his one-year adoption date.

Day 304: Nico looks like he's hovering above the ground in this photo. It was nice to have some warmth and sun in the Adirondacks today. Short overcast days make getting good dog photography shots challenging. I prefer to shoot at a shutter speed of 1/1000-1/2000th of a second which requires a lot of light.

Day 305: Nico likes to keep an eye on the mail carrier. Occasionally we'll find him playing fetch with Nico in our yard. Mail carriers have nothing to fear with Nico, except perhaps a little over exuberance.

Day 306: This is the “I’m ready to snuggle” face. Nico also lays this way so he can occasionally look out the living room window while napping.

Day 307: Today was a big milestone for Nico. He hung out for several hours while we were ice fishing. It was a big moment when he curled up in the shanty for a quick nap. He's quickly learning how to be a “go anywhere, do anything” dog.

Day 309: Nico hasn't left the couch for more than 15 minutes at a time today. We're pretty sure he is tuckered out from running around the ice yesterday. It's a hard life. Haha.

Day 309: Just another afternoon of being on neighborhood watch. We have two new dogs on our street, plus a handful more people walking by. There is a lot for Nico to keep up with these days.

Day 310: Post breakfast snoozing.

Day 311: One technique we've been working with Nico on for the past several months is rewarding him when he gives us attention while walking. This helps him understand that his focus should be on us and that he should look to Shelly and I for how to react when something new or exciting happens. With this approach, along with a little help from the e-collar to break his focus if needed, we've reached a point where he doesn't go nuts when a person or car goes by. In fact, he now looks at us for a treat everytime a car passes close by. He often does the same with people, but still gets excited if they are within ~10 feet. Other dogs are still a work in progress, but we can almost walk past a dog on the opposite side of the street without him barking or pulling, if he does its usually 1-2 short woofs and 1-2 pulls. None of this is aggression, it's high energy and excitement from wanting to run over to anything that grabs his attention.

Day 312: Only a few more weeks before snowball catching season is over. Frankly, I think Nico is ready for warmer weather, hiking, boat rides, and paddling trips.

Day 313: Nico really isn’t happy about the fact that Shelly is taking up the couch with fishing tackle as she rigs her ice fishing tip-ups. He is now on my lap...

Day 314: Nico needs sunglasses.

Day 315: Nico ran around Lake Colby for about four hours straight while we were out fishing. It was so sunny and warm that we didn't need a shanty, which made it hard for Nico to settle down for a nap. We are anticipating that he'll be tuckered out through tomorrow. 🙂

Day 316: Nico made a new neighborhood friend today. Frankly, I would love to have a walking neighborhood where all the dogs could run and play whenever they liked. For now, we don't mind the occasional friendly neighborhood dog that wanders over to visit Nico.

Day 317: Nico, Shelly, a friend, and I went on a nice long walk this evening. Nico encountered over ten dogs. He's making slow but steady progress on containing his excitement. The most memorable moment was when he spotted a cat that looked exactly like him in someone's front yard. The cat was not phased as to jumped and pulled trying to get to it. To top it all off the cat then followed us for a few houses and which caused Nico to repeatedly run into the back of my legs as he was walking while looking over his shoulder at the cat. Someday we hope to get to the point of walking past a dog with not much more than a tail wag and a sniff. That day definitely won't be tomorrow!

Day 318: Nico was practicing channeling his inner-cat this afternoon. His back arching needs a little work and his stalking skills need a lot of work.

Day 319: That beautiful white chest is nearly as soft as the back of his ears.

Day 320: This is the pre-dinner Nico snuggle face. As soon as he eats he’ll be back in the same position completely passed out.

Day 321: The day started off with a dusting of snow and gloomy weather but turned out to be nice this afternoon. Nico wanted to spend the entire afternoon outside. A half dozen toys emerged from the snowpack giving him something to play with out in the yard.

Day 322: What Nico lacks in initial aim when catching he almost makes up for with his super-fast reaction time. This ball initially rolled off his left cheek but he quickly swung his head and body around to grab it.

Day 323: Just running in the sun with a ball.

Day 324: When I get home from work and Nico is outside he waits on our patio with his ears back, eyes squinted, and slowly wiggles back and forth. It's the calm before the storm because as soon as I cross his fence line he explodes with excitement. If I take too long he'll start whining and talking to me.

Day 325: Nico and I went for our first morning walk of the year at Dewey Mountain Recreation Center. We’re lucky to have these trails accessible right out our back door.

Day 326: Nico had a long day. We had a crew of people at our house working on our basement. It was only the second time that he has had someone come in the house. He was like a a ping pong ball bouncing off all the guys whenever we let him downstairs. Now he’s passed out on the couch.

Day 327: Just a goofy shot of Nico flying down a trail at Paul Smith's College during our lunch break walk. He just loves to run and I'm so glad we opted to use an e-collar with him, without it would have been much more challenging to safely have him off leash.

Day 328: All paws.

Day 329: Poor Nico really isn't that great at catching, but he always tries. Maybe one day something will click for him, but I'm not overly hopeful. He has serious jumping and agility skills but just isn't that great with the whole coordination thing.

Day 330: We needed to do some repairs to our basement which resulted in leaving the house for a day. What better way to deal with a disruption than a beautiful staycation in Lake Placid! Nico is loving his first hotel stay at the High Peaks Resort! -Photo and post by Shelly

Day 331: A new telephoto lens arrived in the mail today. I've been without a long telephone lens for several months because I sold all of my Nikon gear to move to Sony. I'm excited to start photographing birds and other wildlife again. Here is a test shot of Nico, it works well to capture photos from a distance without distracting him too much.

Day 332: We're starting to have some beautiful days in the Adirondacks. Spring is fighting back winter and the days are getting longer. Nico has been enjoying more time outside.

Day 333: Nico had two long walks today, plus a good three to four hours of yard time this afternoon/evening. I think we're going to have a very sleepy dog on our hands for the rest of the evening and maybe even into tomorrow.

Day 334: Nico's expressions and greetings when I return home from work melt my heart every time. Ears back, eyes squinted, body wiggling, and if I'm slow getting over his fence line he starts to give me little howls letting me know I need to get my butt over to him faster. He lines up as soon as he sees my truck coming down the road.

Day 335: It was a busy day of yard and housework today. Nico is absolutely wiped out from running around the yard all day. He even laid down in the grass with me for about 30 seconds.

Day 336: Covered in dog slobber and a little river water, and as happy as can be. Nico met our friend's new dog Maple for the first time today and went for a six-mile hike, but he probably covered close to twelve miles with all of his running back and forth.

Day 337: Mom left and dad let Nico run naked around the yard while playing frisbee. Shhh, don't tell Shelly or I'll get blamed for being an irresponsible dog parent. 😎

Day 338: Nico enjoying the late evening light in our backyard.

Day 339: Sometimes I wonder what Nico thinks of this photography project. Almost his entire life he has known me to have this strange object in my hand that I often hold to my face and point at his. He's seemed to learn that when he's running around and I kneel to the ground that he should run right at me. He'll pose like this for a few seconds before becoming disinterested. But he's too high energy to focus for long enough to do the superposes that some dog models learn to do. We're nearing a year together and I've racked up over 10,000 images of this little dude. It's a little crazy to think what the Nico image library will look like by the end of his life.

Day 340: Nico had family over to visit today and was a complete nut job. The pandemic has caused our house to be an isolation zone and Nico isn’t used to company. He’s a tuckered out pup now.

Day 341: We woke up with a dusting of snow in the yard and predictions of several inches. Thankfully the snow switched to rain this afternoon. We're ready for spring to stay!

Day 342: Nico enjoyed some yard time and practiced his fetching skills this afternoon. The whole idea of bringing the ball directly back to me still escapes him, but he'll drop it if I ask him.

Day 343: One of our good friends came over to visit this afternoon. Nico is not used to having visitors over, so this is a whole new set of life experiences for him. Surprisingly, he slept on the couch most of the time. We're still working on the constant circling of people's legs and the occasional jump to say hi. I feel we've done about as good of a job as possible socializing him over the past 11 months given the pandemic. Now that our circle of friends and family are getting vaccinated there is a whole other level of socialization we need to expose him to.

Day 344: Enjoying the afternoon sun.

Day 345: Nico has mastered the polite begging routine.

Day 346: Winter has made a brief return to the Adirondacks. Nico wasn't upset by this and enjoyed doing some zooming through the snow this afternoon.

Day 347: Hopefully, this is the last snowball Nico catches for the next several months.

Day 348: Nico’s first paddling trip of the year. He’s got some work to do on his canoe manners. The fact that we didn’t end up in the water was a huge success. Wearing Khyber’s old life jacket did not channel enough calm canoe dog vibes.

Day 349: While Mom and Dad are away for the day, Nico decided to take Janelle out on a date. They dined al fresco, played fetch, and watched Our Planet on Netflix.

Day 350: A big shoutout to our friend Janelle for watching Nico overnight as Shelly and I went on a short canoe trip to our friend's backcountry wedding. This was his first time spending a night away from us and from what we heard he did just fine! Not only did Janelle do a great job with Nico she stepped up to keep the daily photo alive. I turned over the keys to my Facebook page and oh boy did Shelly and I die laughing at the photo she took with Nico yesterday. She just raised the bar for shots of Nico posing in photos. Thanks, Janelle!

Day 351: Nico's hindquarters are like a pair of powerful springs. His butt is often springing up as higher or higher than his head when he's running. Sometimes he springs up in the air evenly on all fours and makes an exaggerated landing. With a little focus, he would likely be great at jumping and agility.

Day 352: Nico has taken a new liking to fetch. Only about half of the corn hole bags make it back though, the other half end up in various places throughout the yard. He really likes leaping after them mid-air. He adds a whole new dimension to the game. Haha.

Day 353: Nico practicing his polite camel begging pose. He often folds his feet in from of himself like this or tucks them under like a camel. His legs are so long relative to his body that he's got to tuck them in!

Day 354: Doing the ole' wet dog shake while out playing in the rain this afternoon.

Day 355: Belly up couch snuggles. Someone is just a little spoiled.

Day 356: Who do you think won?

Day 357: Nico and Chester being goofballs under a chair with young Maple looking on in bewilderment. The little dude spent all morning and afternoon outside in the yard with me and then had a two-and-a-half-hour play date with Kismet, Chester, and Maple. Maybe he'll still be tired tomorrow???

Day 358: The boy and his ball. What will seem like a surprise to many, the report from Shelly is that Nico was tuckered out all day today. Apparently, he only reached a fully recharged state minutes before I got home.

Day 359: Practicing jump for frisbees this evening. He gets a successful grab about 40% of the time, jumps into my arm or chest 40% of the time, and completely misses everything 20% of the time. Haha.

Day 360: The “Dad, you just got home, why are sitting down in your office?” look. Yes, that is a wetsuit, suit, and academic robes on the back of my office door.

Day 361: Looking innocent, dreaming of trouble.

Day 362: I got in the tub with Nico for his first bath and almost a year later still get in with him. He’s not a huge fan but eventually started to relax, and by relax I mean look around without his head planted to the side of the tub.

Day 363: Weekend couch snuggles with the little dude. Nico often shoves his face under our arms, behind our backs, etc.

Day 364: Symmetry of the oversized tennis ball.

Day 365: One year ago today Shelly and I dropped everything to drive to Vermont to rescue a little puppy we had never met. He was the last of a litter of twelve rescued from South Carolina, who took a long trip to Winnies Legacy Canine Rescue - Dog & Puppies, VT. That day I decided to start a photography project to take a photo of him each day for the rest of his life. On our way home we stopped to let him go to the bathroom and I captured a photo of him sitting in the grass. We've come a long way since then. Little Nico has been the most challenging dog I've ever worked with, but also the most loving. Shelly, Nico, and I look forward to many more years together

Day 366: Another hard day of work at Paul Smith's College for Nico.

Day 367: When Mom goes for a walk without you…

Day 368: Most of the photos I share on here don’t convey the craziness that is Nico. Occasionally his craziness causes him to be all tuckered out by late afternoon.

Day 369: Shelly reports that Nico has been running around all day, only taking about a half-hour nap. When I got home he was clearly a bit tuckered out. He normally traverses the yard at Mach 1 but has slowed down to ~ Mach 0.5. We're betting he is going to crash hard tonight.

Day 370: Nico met his Uncle Dickens today. The two have been roughhousing for the past 3 hours and are showing no signs of letting up. Despite being an "Uncle," Dickens is 8 months old and a few months younger the Nico. COVID prevented them from meeting sooner.

Day 371: Nico has been immersed in doggy socialization for the last 24 hours. This is the longest time he has spent with other dogs since we rescued him. He's finally starting to show signs that he can relax with other dogs around.

Day 372: Shelly, Nico, and I wrapped up two full days of visiting family. It’s nice to have some return to normalcy and give Nico some time with the family dog pack. He was exhausted on our drive home, he even slept for about an hour.

Day 373: Nico insisted on helping me put together a standing desk for Shelly. To be clear, his idea of helping was trying to eat screws, bits of plastic, and twist ties. He's really not a great helper but his cuteness and enthusiasm make for great moral support.

Day 374: The little dude has been calmer than normal the past two days. We aren't sure if it is residual tiredness from 2 days straight of wrestling with Uncle Dickens or if maybe, just possibly, he learned that it's ok to slow down, lay down, and relax.

Day 375: Uh, Nico, don't run with a deflated busted-up ball in front of your face...

Day 376: Nico hung out all evening as Shelly and I tried to catch up on yard work. I have a hard time mowing the lawn this time of year because we have quite a few wildflowers that pop up in various places and are great for our local pollinators. Once the mower comes out I try to mow around as much as possible until the flowers and bees are done doing their thing.

Day 377: Sweet anticipation... There is a treat just out of frame. Nico knows how to give high-fives so Shelly and I were trying to get him to do it on camera but from a distance. We all failed but that's ok, Nico tried and still got the treat.

Day 378: Nico got to spend a bit of time with his friend Chloe this evening. They haven't seen each other in several months, at which time Nico was less than half her size. It took them a little bit to warm back up to one another but they were eventually rolling around the yard together, although here it looks more like dancing.

Day 379: Well, we tried to start off the boating season tonight but our boat battery was dead. Nico enjoyed sitting on the boat (literally, look at his butt) anyway.

Day 380: I wasn’t feeling well this afternoon so laid down on the couch to take a nap. I got up to go to the bathroom and came back to this. Nico is good at sharing though and let me lay back down.

Day 381: If you drop a kibble under the cd shelf you just need to stare down Dad long enough to get him to come help. Nico stood at the entry way to our kitchen for about 15 minutes before I figured out what was going on.

Day 382: Nico decided that eating dandelion heads is a fun yard activity. Goofball.

Day 383: Exuding guilt after eating something inappropriate in the yard.

Day 384: Nico is enjoying taking in the sunset at camp. Shelly and I are getting our family camp opened up for the season. Nico is doing his best to get in as much trouble as possible while we are distracted with work.

Dday 385: While Shelly and I were working hard all day cleaning Nico was napping… must be nice to be a dog.

Day 386: Finding other dogs lost treasures on the island. Better this old bone than the dead goose, numerous dead fish, or countless goose poops...

Day 387: Nico’s first time on the paddleboard this season. He seemed to remember the routine. He’s a lot more comfortable on the board than he is in a canoe. I assume that’s because it is more stable and he can easily walk around.

Day 388: Nico really wanted to be involved with the dock moving operation today but isn’t quite sure about being a water dog. I give him a lot of credit through, he hung out on the dock marooned out in the lake for about two hours as I disassembled, moved, adjusted, and reassembled the dock by myself. At one point he walked out onto a section of dock that was floating. I was very amused watching him walk from one end to the other as each end slowly sank. He eventually lept back onto the assembled portion of the dock soaked up to his chin. Haha.

Day 389: I’m supposed to be on vacation so I can focus on camp chores but a rainy day has kept us inside. Nico has been advising me on how to analyze limnological data using generalized additive models in R. His advice is that an ear rub, belly rub, and a few treats generally add up to a satisfied puppy.

Day 389: Nico has been loving the paddleboard. We hung out in the wetland near our camp for an hour today looking at birds.

Day 391: We took a short trip into Little Otter Creek to do some bird watching after spending the day doing camp chores. Nico decided to jump out of the boat into the marsh. I don’t think he was expecting the water to be very deep. It wasn’t over his head but he did a good face plant and then was a little skeptical about walking back over to the boat. I was amused, he was not. I eventually grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and hauled him back into the boat. He was barely phased and enjoyed the rest of the boat trip.

Day 392: We like to live dangerously… Shelly, Nico, and I went for a paddle board trip around the bay and I didn’t even spill my glass of water. Nico really loves the paddle board, he even went out to the end of the dock today and hopped on it all on his own. I’m sure if he knew how to paddle he would be cruising around the lake by himself.

Day 393: Fishing buddies. Nico is always by Shelly's side when she is fishing. Khyber used to do the same thing.

Day 394: Standing in water = fun Swimming in water = not fun There is an internal debate in our household as to whether this will ever change. Shelly doesn't think so, while I feel Nico will eventually become a water dog. One thing about Nico is he can't be coaxed, cajoled, or forced into doing something. If he figures it out on his own he'll likely be an unstoppable swimming menace that we constantly have to keep an eye on.

Day 395: Nico conducting an olefactory survey of the landscape.

Day 396: We had to make a trip to the vet today to get Nico’s shots. It was a doggy sensory overload as we waited in the parking lot and watched all the dogs come in and out. The great vet techs from Lake Placid Animal Hospital took care of him in the parking lot. Despite loving getting to see people he isn’t a big fan of the whole shot thing. It was hilarious as four of us wrestled with him to keep him still long enough to get two shots and a squirt up the nose. We took the ferry on the way home, which Nico loved. I’m pretty sure if he could talk he would be telling us all about how he loves boats.

Day 397: Nico’s first fish. He’s been following Shelly around for the last two weeks but has missed every fish she caught. He was remarkably well behaved when I pulled in this little yellow perch. All he did was gently sniff it.

Day 398: Back to couch life for Nico. The little dude is exhausted from so much camp life over the past two weeks. When we arrived home our yard looked like a jungle and as much as I would like to rewild our yard that isn’t going to happen for a number of reasons. Nico didn’t even want to hang outside while I mowed and Shelly tended to our neglected garden. He stood in the door looking at us like “what the heck, why aren’t you inside so I can rest easy and take a nap.”

Day 399: We might have to start calling this Nico’s rock. It is one of a few places he likes to lay down in the yard.

Day 400: Nico asked to go pee and then a sudden downpour rolled through. When I went to check on him he was plastered against the door to stay out of the rain. He had major zoomies when he came inside.

A Photo A Day For Life: Day 301 - 400

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