Thursday - February 24, 2011 - Bentley is 2!

Now I know why people are willing to pay a ton of money for a dog that is 2 years old! Our beloved Bentley turned 2 today. And just in the last couple of months we have noticed him maturing a ton into a dog that seems to be listening better, he has less crazy puppy energy, and is a down right enjoyable guy to be around. Not that we didn't enjoy him before, but it just gets to be a lot sometimes.

Good and bad behavior aside, we are gracious for just having him around, as we are often reminded about how lucky he is to be here with us. Hopefully in his distinguished age of 2 years (14 years in human years Cayden keeps saying), he will choose not to ever try to out run a car again! That yucky day was almost a year ago, March 16th!! Whew.

These days Bentley's more content just hangin out here at home, riding co-pilot with me on daily errands, trips to and from school, getting out in the backyard to run around with his volleyball, going to the dog park with Dad, and having lots of play dates with his neighborhood buddies. He enjoys chewing still, but it's very manageable with "chewies" and he will actually drop toys now if he happens to pick one up when he thinks you aren't watching him.

His one last funny habit that I used to get annoyed with, but now it just makes me laugh, is if he wants attention and we are all hustling and bustling around him, he walks over to the kitchen grabs my dishtowel off the rack, carries it back to the living room, lays down and puts it between his front paws and just watches us to see if he can get a rise out of us. I think it's just his way of sayin "hey guys...need a little attention here".

Today, he got to enjoy his Birthday ice cream kiddy cone from Dairy Queen (copied that tradition from my brother and Caddis). And I even tortured him tonight by making him a birthday hat that he was not excited about having rubber banded on to his head for a picture.

We love you Bentley (which the boys turned in to Bentley Boo Booz soon after we got him and now it has become just Booz for short). He responds to either one, so we must call him Booz a lot. He's such a great part of the family. We are glad to have him around.

Jan