Swimsuit Season

Although life jackets aren't exactly the same as bathing suits, Niko seems to have shed some pounds for the summer. When we first put the suit on him in May, we felt how snug it was. There were rolls around his neck. Last week, when we put it on him, not so snug. He has shed a ton of fur earlier this summer. I didn't think Niko was a image conscious pup, but maybe he knows about pictures of him ending up on the internet and shiba tabloids.

When he was at the vet in July, Niko weighed in at 29lbs, which, according to the vet, is a healthy weight for him. She even said he was muscular which we found funny. She called him a "G.I. Joe" dog after we described some of the activities we do with him. We feed him Innova dog food and today, switched to Blue Buffalo to try out. Niko doesn't clean his food bowl out when we fill it in the mornings. He tends to eat and finish his food at night. We give him scraps sparingly and conscientiously. He definitely longs for scraps by quietly staring cutely at us, but we only give him pieces of meat and cheese. For treats, we give him beef jerky made for dogs and sometimes doggie biscuits.