No singing

Today it was surprisingly warm outside so I took Mojo to sit on the porch with me.

This guy came out of the house across the street from us singing loudly. It wasn't bad, it was just unexpected.

Mojo positioned himself directly across from the guy and started woofing at him. The guy would finish a phrase and Mojo would WOOF. Mojo got louder as the guy kept singing.

The guy looked confused and I think he didn't realize he had an audience. Finally he realized that a dog was barking (not meanly) at him and he stopped.

I guess Mojo was the singing police today, because he seemed to be saying "Knock that off!"

P.S. Katie says hi. She just woke up from a nap and is now rubbing against the monitor.

Words Mojo Knows

Mojo has an ever-expanding vocabulary. There are some words he knows and some words that catch his attention.

For example, he knows the word WALK. If you say it, he will go to the door and wait for you to put his leash on. And he knows it more than in the "Do you want to go on a walk?" context. He even knows it if you're talking about something completely different. If I were talking to the hubby and said: "I don't know why I wore 4-inch those heels to work today. I could barely walk in them and now my feet hurt," Mojo would recognize WALK mid-sentence and go crazy. Sometimes I don't even realize I'm saying the word and he'll go nuts.

I started to try spelling it out, but he caught on to that. So now, if we're discussing whose going to talk him, we'll say "the thing" or "around the neighborhood" or whatever we can come up with.

He also knows COME really well. He likes to come when other people call their dogs. He will always come to them. Always. Me? Most of the time, depending on what he wants to do.

He knows his girlfriend's name. It's pronounced Schway, but I think it's spelled Schauii or something....I could be talking on the phone, saying I saw her today and he would go crazy.

Some words will make him perk his ears up, and some words he knows better than others. Here's a list of words he knows or is learning:

• High five (I taught him this one to watch football with his dad)

• Outside

• Potty

• Treats

• Ice

• Mom

• Dad

• Kiss

• Hug

• Dance

• Katie

• Up

• Off

• Rings

• Bed time

• Toys

• Chicken

• Sit

• Park

• Sophie

And of course, he knows his name.

I'm sure I left some words out so I'll just have to update as I remember.

Autumn Leaves

Today I took Mojo on his usual walk when I got home from work.

At some point I absentmindedly picked a leaf and starting playing with it. I'd gotten 100 or so yards before I even realized that I was playing with the leaf, but I noticed that Mojo was also carrying a leaf (in his mouth). It was the exact same color as mine, so he must have picked it up when I picked mine up.

He dropped his leaf shortly after (probably when he saw a dog he wanted to play with) and when he realized he no longer had it, he asked for mine. Of course I gave the leaf to him and he proudly carried it up the hill to our house.

I just thought it was cute that he proudly carrying a leaf to match his mom.

Do you want a turn?

Last week Matt was home doing some school work on the computer. He heard the kids playing so he turned around to see what was going on.

Mojo and Katie were sitting really close to each other, facing each other in the hallway behind the couch. They turned their heads to face him and when Matt looked a little closer to see what was going on, he saw that they were having a blast taking turns playing with a cricket that had gotten into the house. They made a motion to ask Matt if he wanted a turn playing with the cricket and Matt just had to laugh.

Fun weekend

Mojo had a big weekend. Friday was my furlough day so I took him to a private dog park. None of his usual doggie buddies could make it so I thought it would be just us. But as I was heading over to the park, I got a call from a photographer that I work with that he was going to bring his dog, JPEG, to the park.

We got to the park and Mojo just had a blast running as fast as he could. JPEG and his parents got to the park and I think the dogs were instantly best buddies. They took off running together and just played the entire time. JPEG, a boxer mix, was Mojo's match in tugs (Mojo's favorite game) and they had fun chasing the balls and frisbee I brought. They really played well together.

Both dogs had a blast and just relaxed the rest of the day at home. Mojo hung out on the couch and JPEG's dad texted me that he was very chill for the rest of the day.

On Sunday Mojo got another playdate at the same park, this time with Cody, Billie Holiday and Phoebe (who all attended his birthday party). For some reason, Mojo just played with the poodle the whole time but he had fun. Then he went to his grandparents house, where he was an absolute angel. No running up and down the stairs like he usually does. No climbing on the furniture. And when he wanted to take a nap, he crawled into his popup camper and slept.

On Monday, Matt was furloughed (thank you state of Georgia) and when Matt went to take Mojo on a walk, they ran into Schauii, Mojo's girlfriend who he never sees anymore. I don't know if they're still together but they are definitely still friends. Just now that she doesn't live across the street and lives a block away, it's kind of a long distance relationship.

I hope he had tons of fun. He's sure a great dog.