Any night with a couch toy is a good night.

Sniff, sniff, sniff, look, sniff, sniff, look, sniff, sniff, look. This is how Nico moves around our yard, especially in the winter. The snow must change the scent landscape in a way that makes it much more interesting to be a dog. I assume it dampens background scents, making it easier to pick up recent happenings in the yard. If you know, let me know in the comments below!

I asked Nico if he knew what were in the presents under our Christmas tree and he just gave me a wink.

Shelly and I built a snow fort around our chiminea in our backyard. This is Nico inspecting the placement of snow blocks along one wall.

Snowday boredom. Playing with toys and snoozing all day has gotten boring.

One of my clients, Bark Eater Outfitters, sent me these sweet hats with one of my photos of Algonquin Peak across the front. Nico approves.

Eyes open, half-closed, or closed?

You would be amazed at the place Nico can fit into.

One of my colleagues is currently working in Antarctica and over the last few days, the temperatures in the Adirondacks and McMurdo Station in Antarctica have been very similar. Nico thinks that’s a good indication that it’s ok to settle in among blankets on the couch.

One thing I love to do when recreating outdoors is to pick interesting points I see on the landscape in the distance as future destinations for outdoor adventures. Today, Shelly, Nico, and I went to one of those places.

Shelly bought Nico what I refer to as a “couch couch,” which is essentially a dog bed that is meant to sit on a couch. Nico likes it but often lays straight on our couch instead. Today we decided to put it on our front bench, which gets nice sunlight in the afternoon.

Sleepy boy.

Nico’s tendency to bark and howl at people when he is excited or isn’t getting what he wants isn’t very office friendly. Thankfully he doesn’t do it very often and my co-workers find it mildly entertaining (or at least that’s what they say). Today, we went downstairs to visit our lab team, and one of them mentioned they heard a dog barking upstairs, yup that was Nico.

We’ve been out of Fresh Kisses for over a week. Nico seems to be pretending like they still don’t exist, afraid to make eye contact out of fear they may disappear.

It’s hard to leave for work in the morning with this little face staring at me from the corner of the couch. Though I have to say I enjoy the greeting when I get home every afternoon.

Nico is very dexterous with his feet. Often times I find this Benebone standing on its end in the living room, sitting where Nico had last been holding onto it.

The look on Nico’s face when he heard that we were going to the Christmas tree farm. Nico had a blast running at absolute full speed around the fields.

Nico practicing being patient.

Paws wrapped around my arm with his teeth showing. You might think this is a sign of aggression, but this is Nico playing. We’ve worked with him his whole life about not putting his mouth on people. He still slips up now and then but not in a harmful way.

We picked up a cheese advent calendar from the grocery store and found a dog treat one as well! Now everyone is begging for treats after dinner.