16 Things at 16 Months

When I wrote Kyle's 15 month post, I was not sure this post would ever be written. Can I tell you how much I love writing this post and knowing that there will be a 17 month post in April? Life is happy right now!

Without further ado, here are 16 reasons I'm thankful Kyle is still with me.

1. My students love Kyle. They were seriously unhappy about the idea of a February recall. Now, Kyle will be with them until three weeks before school gets out.
2. Kyle doesn't misbehave in the house, but he can be a bit rowdy at times. I'm excited to fine tune his manners so that Kyle's partner will love his behavior on and off duty.
3. Kyle and I love hiking together, and it's just now getting warm enough to hit the trails on a frequent basis.
4. Kyle will be an amazing mentor dog for puppy #4.
5. Kyle was a transfer puppy, but I'm getting as much time with him as raisers typically get with puppies they start.
6. Kyle's a morning dog, and I'm not a morning person. His enthusiasm to greet the day always makes me smile. How can you be grumpy with a tail wagging, cuddly puppy rubbing against you? It's impossible.
7. I get to raise two puppies at once! The weeks with puppies outnumbering me will be a fun challenge.
8. I'll never get enough cuddle time in with Kyle. We can continue pretending like he's my lap dog for a few more weeks.
9. It's wonderful to take a dog in public that you know will behave nearly perfectly every time. That's Kyle!
10. I know I can trust Kyle, and he knows he can depend on me. It takes a long time to build that bond.
11. You can never do too much fine tuning with puppy's training. Every extra training session Kyle and I get in will further tip the odds of graduating in Kyle's favor.
12. I've never had a lab this age. Turk and Mesa were recalled before 16 months, and Mesa was in formal training for quiet a while before he was career changed. It's fun to watch Kyle become more of an adult dog. (There's still plenty of puppy left though.)
13. I've stockpiled sterilized bones for Kyle's chewing pleasure. He gets to stick around long enough to enjoy destroying them.
14. My spring break is in a couple weeks. Kyle and I will have a lot of play time and outings during our week off.
15. A couple weeks ago I couldn't come up with any outings that Kyle hadn't conquered. Now I have a fun list of new places we are going to visit over the next few weeks.
16. I love Kyle. Just thinking about his recall can make me tear up. I'm thankful for each extra day we get to spend together! Someday he'll be someone's partner, but for today I'm thankful Kyle's my boy.