December brought a lot of fun and new experiences for Cliff. He started the month with a play date with a few other dogs, one of whom was his buddy, Slick, at Tom Campbell’s Hill Off Leash area. He enjoyed greeting every other dog that came into the park while we were there. I was very pleased at how well he responded when I called him back. His recall training was really tested with all of the other dogs in the park.

We puppy-sat Cliff’s little half-sister, PADS Rimbey, for 10 days. Cliff was excited to have another dog around as I’m sure he misses Slick. He took his role as a mature big brother very seriously until it became too much for him to resist Rimbey’s attempts to engage him in play. There were some no-holds-barred play sessions between the two of them. At half Cliff’s size, Rimbey was very effective at holding her own against him.

Cliff attended the Christmas Eve Candlelight service at RockPointe Church and behaved very well. He was approached by so many adoring fans and always looked to me for direction. Christmas day brought my family to our house, and Cliff was in his glory receiving as much attention as he wanted from everyone. He settled in his bed while we had Christmas dinner, and promptly fell asleep.Β 

Cliff accompanied us on a quest for new kitchen appliances. He was remarkably patient while visiting Costco, Trail Appliances and Home Depot looking at the same big steel boxes over and over again. As a reward for all of his patience, he happily lapped up his first Starbucks Pup Cup.

Submitted by: Tracey