This is a progress report on Tye, one of Blue and Mickey’s pups. He is an absolute delight. My wife asks how Tye is when I call home before she asks how I am.

He is now 70 pounds.

I don’t hunt, so he probably never will either, but we walk at least two miles every day and he’s “hunting” most of that time.

He is very trainable, in part because he is so fixated on food. I recently taught him to roll over using a peanut butter filled pretzel as a treat. Now, if I get one of those out of the jar he runs to the living room and rolls over. He will come when called, sit, lie down, go to his rug, kennel, walk at my side, fetch on land or water, (although getting the fetched object back is still an issue sometimes), and roll over. In addition he will not chase after joggers or bicycles we meet on the trial every day. On Tuesday he will begin second level obedience training.

In short we think he’s a spectacular pup. He would be near perfect if it weren’t for the chewed shoes, redistributed fly tying materials, and occasionally herking up some unidentifiable object. How are his brothers and sisters doing? Just as well, I’m betting.