Hey, me again! A new pupdate means a whole other month went by, and this one sure flew by fast. I am now 8 months old! I think this is by far the busiest month I have ever had – lots of new experiences and outdoor adventures! I am starting to wish I could be a bear and go into hibernation for the next few months. However, I would definitely miss all the fun things I have been up to and that are ahead of me in the future. Let me tell you what I have been up to!

At the very beginning of September, I went to the Cochrane rodeo with my raisers. Since I was so great at the Calgary Stampede in July, I was excited to be a good boy and watch the large β€œdogs” again. What I didn’t realize was how badly I wanted to be a part of the show and I couldn’t hold it in. It ended up being a great learning experience for me, working hard with my raisers to keep my focus on them and self-regulate my emotions.

After the rodeo, I thought I had experienced enough chaos for at least a few weeks. However, a few days later I found myself in a new building with so many smells and about 1,000 sets of new feet. I have since learned that the humans call this β€œschool,” and I go with one of my raisers to tiny human school 2-4 times a week. My first day of school was September 5th, and my homeroom consisted of 32 tiny human friends I got to spend most of my day with. Every day I show up on my very best behaviour ready to help them learn and take part in my own learning alongside them. I put smiles on everyone’s faces, even when they are sad, and I know I am making a big difference in these people’s lives.

Do you think that’s a lot of school? Well, on my days β€œoff,” I find myself going to a whole different school. My other raiser calls this school β€œUniversity.” My human spends a lot of time in the lab and that is quite an experience for me! The humans here have much bigger feet. Although my days here are not quite days off, they are much more relaxed, and I have more time to rest (because the tiny humans sure don’t let me do much of that). I enjoy the slower-paced days to catch up on my sleep, but I am also always excited to get back with the tiny humans and make their days a whole lot better.

My raisers would describe me as a calm, cuddly and playful little boy. I always hear them say β€œGood boy,” so I know I am doing all the right things. They are very proud of all of the things I have accomplished since the last time I updated you all! Thanks for tuning in – I will be back next month to give you all β€˜pumpkin’ to talk about (Ha, get it?!).

Submitted by: Katie Buckley and Jonah Dimnik