We don't tend to think of Molly as being a big dog. But everyone who sees her is amazed at how big she is.
Recently we compared her to Bill's 5'10" frame. Results below. mollypuppy200.jpg

And, the other night she and Bill were crawling around looking for her golf ball....

and ready to play ...

As you can see, she is getting bigger.

Actually, this picture was taken back in early July -- so, when she was just over six months old. She is bigger now ... up in the upper 70 pound range.

She doesn't wear sweats often -- but, as you can see, they are fine with her.

Nice color, huh?

As you can see, the girls have claimed the two chairs on the back porch. They sleep. They watch the ocean. They bark. They dig.

These two get along quite well. Yesterday, they cornered a chipmunk under the picnic table. Poor little guy was truly terrified. How could he know that they just wanted to play? Pauline broke the game up so the chipmunk could get away.

What was interesting was that they worked collaboratively, on opposite sides, to fence the little fellow in. I have not had dogs around who cooperated for 30 years. Stosh and Mayday could do it. Once they teamed up, on either end of a culvert, to trap a rabbit. Gepetto and Spike, Spike and Maggie -- no way.

These two girls like each other quite a bit.

Here is a link to a picture of the two dogs and Rachel and me.

Spike died on May 29, after a week of decline. The preceding Sunday, May 23, he stopped eating and pretty much stopped drinking, as well. The decline took all week. At first he could still get around, though he didn't want to move much. At the end he couldn't stand.

It was a cold rainy week. We had a fire going in the kitchen much of the time, to keep him warm. In this picture you can see the edge of a rocking chair that I moved into the kitchen wo I could be with him.

You can also see that Molly - who could tell that he was not well - stayed close by.

It was really nice, in the end, for Spike to have someone to cuddle with. Pauline and I have the sense that he always wanted that - but Gepetto sure was not about to cuddle with him - and Maggie and Spike did not get along in a cuddly way. But Molly ...

Here is a link to another picture of the two of them, this time while he was in the den.

We had a really nice year with him after the cancer diagnosis. Heck, I thought he was a goner last July. But we were able to take some nice trips -- the trip down to get Molly was special, since he got to stay in a motel again, which he always enjoyed. Gimpy, and could hardly get around, but he got a big kick out of going up and down the hall to the motel room. And it was nice for him to get to be with Molly, and Molly with him.

Molly is now 25 weeks old--almost 6 months. She is quite amazing.

Her major accomplishments for this week:
--she stayed in the house all by herself for 4 hours yesterday and for several hours the day before. Not in her crate. Not locked in the kitchen. She didn't get into ANY trouble. Pretty amazing. All those yogurt cartons and blocks of wood on the floor do seem to be keeping her usefully engaged.
--she rode all the way into Bangor today--about 120 mile round trip--and although she drooled and worried a great deal, she did not lose her breakfast. A real accomplishment. She is getting better about the car. She doesn't so much mind going in it but it is after it starts moving that she feels challenged.

Molly was 20 weeks old today. She weighs 52 pounds. She stands ~ 22" tall at the shoulders and is ~ 22" long from base of neck to base of tail.
A picture says a 1,000 words, they say: Below Molly in the car at 8 weeks heading out from the breeder's to come live with us and Molly in the same car at 20 weeks. Pretty incredible, eh?


For those of you who have been tracing the little green bed saga, here is an update.

And, the Crate, at 8 weeks and at 19.5 weeks. Same crate. Same dog?

Happened to weigh Molly this evening and ... she weighed 50 pounds ! She is about 4 - 1/2 months old now (she was born on Christmas eve). Big girl

Today she entered a new phase with water. We were down at the shore behind our house at high tide -- waves were coming up on the rocks and there was lots of seaweed and stuff floating around. So, she walked in to investigate, began pawing at it, sticking her nose in the water ... then this suddenly became a great game -- much like she does with snow, where she jumps and sees that the stuff (snow, water, sand, whatever) leaps on ahead of her -- so she jumps again -- and it leaps away again, and then faster, and faster ... and it is all very exciting.

Pretty soon she was leaping about in deeper and deeper water, laying down in it, jumping up, running up onto the shore, running in circles, then leaping back into the water.

She got very wet.

Never actually swam ... but she sure thinks the water is great.

Molly will be 17 weeks old tomorrow, April 21. You remember the little green bed? So does Molly. But she doesn't use it much anymore, except as a place to keep her toys. But, it is a good place to sit while you study golf balls.
And, for a little more size comparison, we give you Spike and Molly--dog or puppy? Remember, Spike weighs over 80#.

Molly passed the 40 pound mark this weekend. Every once in a while, when we look at her, she surprises us and looks like a dog rather than a puppy.

Still cannot ride in cars.

She has the best time with her golf ball. Like -- she studies it. She put is down on our old floors, watches it roll -- picks it up and puts it down someplace else. A dog physicist.

She loves the beach (rocks and seaweed are what passes for our beach. I guess I should say "shore.") Things to eat. Much to sniff. The other morning there was a thin layer of ice on the little pond where the fresh water runs into the ocean. She would put her paw on it, watch it crack, jump back, stare, and try again. "Yo, Bill, come check this out!" "Yes, Molly, it is ice. I know about ice." "No, really, this is really weird. You should check it out."