Yoshi Bear

Ok, so I know it's been forever since I've blogged. I realized yesterday that I never introduced the newest member of our family, Yoshi!!

We just love him and think he's the greatest thing ever! He's so fun and full of energy. After a long day, sometimes it's a little frustrating that he just wants to play, but it's just too precious to resist. He's a purebred Corgi and he's about 17 months old now. We got him back in the beginning of December. We're already his third owners, so there's been a few struggles because of that, but nothing major. He's so smart. Too smart sometimes.

Just a few minutes ago, I told him that he's very needy and "I hope that's  just a corgi trait." He cocked his head to the side (normal for him-like he's confused) and starting walking towards his treat cupboard. It took me a minute to realize that he heard "trait" as "treat". Of course I just had to give him a treat after that! I'm such a pushover.

Sadly, today while on a walk, I realized his paw was bleeding so we stopped and I checked it out. He wasn't too thrilled about me looking at it. We took him to the vet and the vet said that he had been walking too much recently (about 5ish miles per day this week) and the cement had worn it down. Looking at it closer tonight, it looks more like his nail broke off at an angle. It's pretty sad looking. But it didn't really bother him. Definitely didn't think you could "over walk" a dog. Sorry puppy!

Kevin is his favorite, of course. He goes to Kevin to play. And when he has to go down to go to the bathroom, he barks at me. Awesome. He pretty much barks at any new noise, or any noise out in the hallway, too. But his "potty" bark is different. It's desperate sounding. But he understands "potty" and what it means.

He has some tricks he can perform. Sit, shake, speak, kisses (he'll put his nose up to yours! adorable!), and we're working on lay down. Of course, all rules go out the door once we go to the dog park. Oh he loves the dog park!! As soon as we walk or drive around the corner, he knows exactly where we are and will go the the end of his leash and pretty much choke himself because he can't get there fast enough. He has a girlfriend named Jana. Seriously, it's kind of uncomfortable to watch them play sometimes. Recently there have been quite a few other corgis coming to the dog park. They all love to play with Yoshi and follow him around everywhere. It's so cute. I think they think he's their daddy because he's so big. Seriously, average corgi weight is 25-30 lbs. This dog is 34 lbs. They may not seem like a lot but when he's maybe a foot tall, 4-9 lbs. is a lot.

Corgis are also herding dogs. He always wants us in the same room. He'll go back and forth between us if we're not in the same room. Of course he spends more time wherever Kevin is. At least every few days, while walking through the hallway, we'll feel him nipping at our ankles. Not enough to actually feel teeth, but just enough to know that he's there and we better keep going the direction he wants us too. It's funny, but annoying too. But mostly funny because I don't think he can really help it. It's just in his genes.

Corgis are supposed to be really great with kids. He's great with kids starting at about the year mark. Because they actually look and act like humans at that point and will interact with him without just crying. However, we've babysat for Kevin's coworker a couple of times. They have a 7 month old. Yoshi's not so sure about him. And of course, any sound (knock, bell, ding,etc.) Yoshi has to bark at it and growl. Babies don't really like that. And Yoshi definitely doesn't like that the baby doesn't like it. So it might be a couple rough years whenever we have kids during the infant stage. Once they get to be a toddler, he loves them though. Should be interesting.

So here are some more pictures of our baby! They're pretty blurry since they're all from my phone, but you get the idea.

 This is how I found him sleeping one morning when I went to go let him out.

See, they're each other's favorites. I just can't win.

This is what he did to the fluffy ball on the top of my hat. I was not happy. Then Kevin showed me how similar it looked to the end of his rope. Almost the exact same. I couldn't be mad anymore...

 He was too quiet one morning while I was getting ready. This is how I found him. Awkward, Yoshi.

This is our good friends' youngest. They love each other but sometimes when all 3 kids are over here, Yoshi gets a little overwhelmed. This time, he went to hide and Austin followed him. No where to hide with kids!

He constantly does this. Not sure why. I think he's trying to itch his back.

He loved all the snow that was here! I, however, am glad it's gone finally.

You can't really hear it that well, but a balloon from Valentine's day was in our closet (where all balloons have to stay otherwise he won't go near them) and he just started growling at it. It took us awhile to figure out what he was growling at, but it was definitely the balloon! He's such a baby.

This is what I mean when I say he cocks his head to the side. This was the third time Kevin was making that noise and Yoshi was distracted by the ding when my phone started taking video, but you get the general idea. It's normally a lot more to each side. It's awesome.

And that concludes our ode to Yoshi. I am that crazy lady that doesn't  have kids so she takes pictures and videos of her dog. He's like our child and I am not ashamed to admit it. We LOVE him!