Puppy Love

Over Thanksgiving, I had the opportunity to meet Z, a gorgeous ten week old Akita pup.  I was visiting my best friend J (and also her husband, J, and son, J ... yep, lots of J's in that house, and they are three of my favorite people in the world, so it's always great to get to see them, which isn't as often as I would like since they live four hours away.)  

Almost as soon as I walked in the door, she said "Hey, do you want to go see the neighbor's new puppy?"  Um ... is the Pope Catholic?  And so, after I finished smooching J's fur children (including her Beagle, Stella and dilute calico polydactyl kitty, Sydney - who you might have seen if you follow us on Instagram), we headed out to go see baby Z.

I have always loved Akitas ... they are certainly not a dog for everyone, but this particular family is knowledgeable and passionate about the breed, and had recently lost their previous Akita, C., so it was  incredibly heartwarming to see how much joy little Z. was bringing to their home.  I had never met these particular neighbors of J's before, but as often happens, a shared love of dogs made it seem like the most natural thing in the world to sit around on a stranger's living room floor and coo puppy silliness to baby Z.  As I happened to have my camera with me, I snapped a few pictures, and while most of them were not very good, (Z. was a bundle of puppy energy, and I tend to do a lot better in instances where my subjects are relatively still due to my ineptitude behind the camera) there were a few that came out decently.  Not being one to keep all that puppy adorableness to myself, I thought  I would share those with you.  Too bad the puppy breath doesn't translate ... 

 * As a side note, I am not a fan of "choke" collars, particularly on puppies, but I didn't feel it was my place to say anything in this case.