Hi Reno fans,

Just a quick update to let you know that Reno is still doing beautifully. He hasn't had a couch-chewing incident in a while, nor a garbage incident in a while, so good news there.

One of the things that makes us laugh (and there are many with this guy) is is that Reno a slob. He's like a sweet little boy who didn't learn any manners, but adores and appreciates everything he has. You give him a treat, for example, and he treasures it like it's gold, gently holding it in his mouth and finding his favorite spot in which to enjoy it. Once he settles in, though, let the drooling, slobbering, crunching and smacking of lips begin. After he's finished, he licks up the crumbs (because who wouldn't), looks at us and politely burps as if to say, "Why thank you for the snack. It was quite delicious." And then all the humans burst into giggles. It never fails.

We have several bowls of water around the house for him to enjoy. And boy, does he ever enjoy his water. When he's thirsty, you might want to don a rain jacket and turn the volume up on the tv, because it gets noisy and wet! Its sort of like have a couple of cows at the water trough. Just get the heck out of the way and mop up after.

Reno also gets a little, um, gassy. Since we have a nine-year old boy in the house, we are often in hysterics about this little problem. This morning for example, Reno was laying right in the middle of the action, just relaxing and generally having a quiet morning. Every few minutes though, a loud toot would come out, and he'd look around as though he could blame it on someone else.

As you can see by the picture, he also loves resident Rori. Reno's the big guy snuggled up against her. Makes my heart melt.

Hi Reno Fans!

I'm so sorry I haven't posted a Reno update in a while. The holidays arrived, life got busier than usual, and well, I'm sure many of you have a similar story.

Anyway, Reno is doing really well. He's mostly a happy dog, but timid around new people. My dad is visiting this week, and although he was shy, he greeted him right away. Now they're buddies.

You have read in past updates that Reno chewed on our couch. We are really working on teaching him about chewing appropriate items vs. inappropriate items. Shoes, mittens, and socks are favorites for him, so we keep those up high. But yesterday, I was working from home and I left for ten minutes to pick up our son from school. When I came home, some of my paper work had bite marks in it. So really, nothing is safe right now. But again, we're working on it.

I don't want this to scare you away from thinking about adopting this boy. He's so sweet and gentle, and wants badly to get it right. He's great about having his ears, paws, and mouth checked, he doesn't resource guard, he's completely potty trained, and he loves being outside He just needs a little patience and a lot of love (and chew toys).

He joined our Golden Christmas tradition this year, and sported his red Christmas bow quite well. Isn't he handsome?

As I type this, we're on day two of rain and it's finally turning to snow. That doesn't bother our Reno boy one bit. He LOVES to be outside, exploring the back yard and playing with resident GR Rori.

Reno's personality is starting to shine, and we're loving every minute of it. It's like watching a brand new puppy learn about the world around him, only he's just a giant size puppy. He's becoming quite the velcro dog.

On Monday, much to my surprise, I went to sit on the couch, and guess who was in my spot? That's right, Reno boy finally decided that the big leather thing in the room wasn't so scary after all. Much to Resident Rori's chagrin, as she thinks the couch belongs to her. Never mind the really expensive dog beds we have for both of them. Serta clearly isn't up to the standards of the prince and princess.

Yesterday, though, Reno gave us all such a shock that even my non-photographer husband ran to get the camera. I was sitting on the couch, minding my own business, and without an invitation HE JOINED ME! That's right, he hopped up, put his head in my lap, and let out the biggest, sweetest sigh you ever did hear. There may have been some happy crocodile tears from Foster Mom.

Despite all this great news, he still has more learning and exploring to do. Soon we'll be ready to work on basic training, but we want to give him a bit more time to really feel comfortable. The more that tail wags, the closer he gets to being ready to learn basic commands.

The last picture was taken right after he got his stitches out. The vet says his eye healed beautifully and we can tell he's feeling much better!